Funkadelic

UNKLEJAM ~ Unklejam

To say that this album was long overdue is a huge understatement. The album suffered numerous delays by its record company and at one point I feared that I'd never even get my grubby mitts on a physical copy of the CD (so much so, that I downloaded two different versions of the album from various illegal sources *gasp*).

In the end, I had to go all the way to Japan (via eBay) to secure myself an official copy of the album. Thankfully, it was worth that extra bit of effort. The only sad thing is that domestically, the album is only available legally as a digital download and the band are likely to fade into obscurity now, which is a crime given the quality of the album and the singles (and their accompanying videos).

Their self titled debut is, on the whole, very dance-y and upbeat, with only two or three slower songs to ease the pace. What doesn't let up for the entire album is the bands signature electronic sound. The blending of pop/rnb/dance/electronic/funk is a heady mix and the band were very ambitious to take so many different genres into their fold. Sometimes it works, other times the production is just far too heavy. On certain songs its hard to make out the lyrics, on others its tricky to even pick out the vocals of each band member! Even so, the sound they've come up with is quite distinct and none of the tracks are boring to listen to.

There are at least three songs that are a chore to get through, but the rest of the album is solid, with a few other tracks that would have easily made single status if the band hadn't evaporated first. Even though its sounds contrary, the synthesised sound that runs through the album lends a strangely organic feel to the music.........like the pulse of some great mechanical beast :P Its worth noting that the album versions of the three released singles are slightly different from the single versions. But the difference is so small that unless you were playing the hell out of the singles for months beforehand (like I was), you are likely not to notice!

Its definitely one of those albums that you'd have to be in the mood to listen to, being as musically "in your face" as it is. "Unklejam" is a very strong debut (and quite possibly the final work) from a creative and unique band. I think perhaps they were all just a little TOO unique for the buying public :P

Standout Tracks:

• Love Ya
• What Am I Fighting For?
• Just Like Me
• Cry
• Go
• Stereo