Browsing Tag

Funk Rock

Mulholland Jive – Jurassic Shark: A Jazz Fusion Jive Through Funk Infested Waters

Posted on 1 May 2026

Mulholland Jive dragged us back into the water with Jurassic Shark, a jazz-fusion instrumental that bites down with schlock-horror wit, cult-cinema camp, and enough rhythmic libido to jolt the blood back into the limbs of the terminally jaded musos. Clearly one for sly pop culture nods and tongue-in-cheek wordplay, Mulholland Jive delivered a release that knows precisely how ridiculous its title is, then backs it up with musicianship sharp enough to leave teeth marks.

As you’d expect from a rock-licked, funk-charged jazz-fusion piece, there are a fair few more chords than in the Jaws theme. The arrangement swings with swanky vitality, a Viagra for the rhythmic pulses, as the synths blaze with a video-game gleam and the keyboards drive the track into a state of ornate frenzy. The oddity lies in how the keys manage to feel both feral and finely wrought, while the brusque tempo and feverish momentum keep you pinned to the edge of your seat. There are traces of Frank Zappa’s irreverence, Cory Wong’s funk attack, and Casiopea’s gleaming technical fire in the spectacle held together with an irreplicable sonic signature

The project is the brainchild of Irish multi-instrumentalist and Cambridge-based composer Ben Mulholland, brought to life through a rotating 9-piece band already seasoned by festivals, headline slots, radio play, and songwriting recognition. It is easy to anticipate Mulholland Jive becoming as big as Henge in the festival circuit this summer.

Jurassic Shark is now available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify.

 Review by Amelia Vandergast

K.O. “M” Band – Addressing It: 90s nostalgia, seductive grooves and siren-esque mic-drop lines that scintillate the soul

Posted on 26 January 2026
https://open.spotify.com/track/7fcdCD0RaHSv5FQTXJ0VD4?si=1b379e60947a469c

Independent sibling duo K.O. “M” Band channelled their fearless fusion of Funk, Rock, R&B and underground Hip-Hop into Addressing It, the standout single from their new EP, ALL FAIR GAME. From the second the 90s nostalgia spills through the production, you’re pulled into a lush haze of seductive grooves and siren-esque mic-drop lines. It’s a seminal track for anyone who wants to expand their mind, scintillate their soul and push their rhythmic pulses into overdrive. As the raunchy flow of licks and grooves snakes beneath the surface, the vocals thrive in their playful purity, sharpening the thematic edge while keeping the entire experience bathed in a hazily hypnotic cloud of choral reverb.

In that haze, the duo make it clear they aren’t creating through ego. There’s a spiritual urgency in the way they’re awakening their growing fanbase, using their platform to confront the introspective issues we sleepwalk through. Their aural world feels voluptuously viracious, almost ritualistic in the way it pulls you in and refuses to let go. It’s a revolution delivered through intention, sensuality and a meticulous sense of mood.

Formed by siblings Mckenzy Keyes and Maximus Keyes, K.O. “M” Band has spent the last decade refining the Naptown Sound, pushing Indianapolis’ musical identity forward with their bold genre collisions and vibrant creative chemistry. ALL FAIR GAME marks a major milestone for the pair, showcasing their evolution, maturity and sharp musical identity. Fully independent and self-produced, they continue to expand their universe on their own terms, proving that innovation doesn’t need permission.

Addressing It is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Hük Unleash Electro-Funk Nihilism for the End Times in ‘The State We’re In’

Posted on 10 December 2025

Hük laid another layer of sleazy Northern electro-funk on the alt scene with their latest single, The State We’re In, a psychedelic, grime-glossed experiment that lets the madness pool and settle under your skin. Through serrated guitar licks, cold synth flashes and drum patterns that punch holes through the rhythm, they channel the sound of institutional fatigue and post-identity collapse into a soundtrack worthy of a kitchen-sink apocalypse. The vocals grind through it all with deadpan disdain, half-theremin preacher, half-northern street poet, dragging you into a malaise-soaked narrative of modern disillusionment.

There’s a full mind-glitch moment when the electroclash groove collides with the woozy psych-rock grind, sounding like a Sleaford Mods fever dream turned up in the Brighton fog with nothing left to lose and everything left to howl about. That heady mix of Manc and Leeds blood in the band bleeds out through the John Cooper Clarke nods and Half Man Half Biscuit echoes, but the sound is entirely their own unholy conjuration. The DNA might be post-punk electro-funk, but the result feels more like Dirty Harry falling into a dimension where reality is warped by analogue static and cynical dread. No ego. No pretence. Just raw creative ambition and enough offbeat sleaze to make your teeth itch. With Rob Bennett on vocals and guitar, Jo Wadeson on bass and backing vocals, John McElroy weaving in the synths and samplers, and Paul Gunter pounding the beat into the pavement, this Brighton-based quartet has no business being this sharp, but 2025 seems to be their year for striking.

The State We’re In is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify. 
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Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Jarred Garneau Group incited a fusionist funk rock riot in ‘Why Don’t You Beg for Me’

Posted on 22 November 2025

The Jarred Garneau Group incited a swanky funk rock riot with their latest blues reverent release, Why Don’t You Beg for Me. With the Hammond Organ making the energy of the release instantly infectious and playful keys assuring you that the fiery collective do not take themselves too seriously and neither should you while you are at the mercy of their guitar licks as they drift between funk and blues with the carefree abandon of jazzy freeform expression, Why Don’t You Beg for Me is a tilt awhirl of fusionist fire. The earworm is all tied together by the gruff magnetism of the strident vocal lines, which amplify the intensity of the track that is now always ready and waiting for you every time you need to be aurally picked up by a collective that sets the bar for artists looking to prove their euphoric mettle.

As a band led by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jarred Garneau, the group has been building a reputation across New England for performances rich with groove and emotional honesty. Their lineup pulls from some of the region’s most seasoned players, musicians who thrive on instinct and tight-knit chemistry. Years of sharing stages with members of legacy acts and appearing at venues and festivals across the area have shaped a live synergy that spills effortlessly into their studio work. You can hear that lived-in experience in Why Don’t You Beg for Me, where their blues, rock, soul, funk, and jazz inclinations sit side by side, not as a stitched-together concept but as a natural extension of who they are as players.

Why Don’t You Beg for Me is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The devil is in the debauched detail of Too Late To Run’s seminal alt-rock hit, Diablo

Posted on 3 December 2024
Fake News by Too Late To Run

In their debut EP, Fake News, the outfit fated to become Sweden’s latest alt-rock powerhouse, Too Late To Run (TLTR), takes on the hypocrisy of world leaders and puppet news media with gritty distorted guitars and a subtle voice of sarcasm.

The standout single, Diablo, is a down-and-dirty cocktail of funk, scuzz, and playful punk panache that blasts past pastiche while harking back to acts like Eagles of Death Metal and Mike Patton, who avert cliché with their humorous and avant-garde spins on rock ‘n’ roll tropes. For a while, it has felt like rock has become a parody of itself—a trend perpetuated by artists with scarce awareness of how they’re weak effigies of their idols. But with Too Late To Run, you lock into the rolling rhythms and devil-may-care debauchery, instantly assured that every sonic sermon will leave you wanting to kneel at their eccentrically electric altar.

Born in the UK, songwriter, producer, lead vocalist, and band founder LEA says of the album, “Many people are feeling powerless right now, and these songs are the best way I know to get my own voice heard and try to make a difference.”

Diablo is now available to stream and download via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

NYC’s Summer Fling put the soul in funk-rock with ‘Blissful Haze’

Posted on 25 May 2024

NYC’s Summer Fling broke their two-year spell of silence by conjuring an elemental force of feel-good furore in their single, Blissful Haze, which delivers exactly what it says on the titular tin.

Using high-energy funk-rock as the stylistic bedrock of the release and finding room to inject soul, blues, pop, and jazz, the seven-piece powerhouse ensured Blissful Haze transcends sound to visualise a state of mind you can enter simply by hitting play on the single which filters nostalgia through a modern indie pop lens.

Few vocalists could match the electrifying energy of the dynamic instrumental arrangement that layers shimmering organs over funk rhythms and hard-hitting horns, but Eddie Kam, an indomitable emissary of charisma, went supernova on the infectiously zealous soul.

With each member of Summer Fling a recently graduated jazz musician, you can rest assured that you’re in rhythmically safe hands as you get taken through the helter-skelter ride of rapture.

Blissful Haze was officially released on May 10th; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The celestial architects, Terrestrial Soulz, led prog-rock and hip-hop through an orchestral maze in ‘Slipping Away’

Posted on 27 February 2024

Salt Lake City’s Terrestrial Soulz reached the pinnacle of genre-fluid experimentalism with their standout single, Slipping Away, taken from their debut album, Crash Landed.

After an extended orchestrally-laced prog-esque intro that licks funk into the groove pockets, the track that will give you 90s melodic rock nostalgia kicks into full gear through the introduction of the sleek and sharp spoken-word rap bars that deliver a sobering exposition of grief, oppression, and our inescapable relationship with fear that are facades can hide, but deep down, it’s always gnawing away at our psyche as ‘time slips away’.

As the single progresses, there are even more transitions in the interstellar pioneering transmission as soul spills in from the vocal harmonies and orchestral strings join guitar strings to relay the riffs. Between the distinction in their sonic signature and the weight in their bars, the outfit that is renowned for their explosive live performances is fated to make waves in an era when so many of us are searching for meaning. What it means to be human is stitched right through this cinematically avant-garde hit.

As Terrestrial Soulz is currently hard at work on their upcoming LP, Third Rock from the Sun, and priming for a state-wide tour, they’re more than worth a space in your playlists and on your radar.

Slipping Away is now available to stream with the debut Crash Landed LP on Spotify and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Gabe Kuchan got into the groove of gratitude with his euphoric riot of funk rock, When You’re Around

Posted on 4 December 2023

With contributions from Cooper Swartzentruber, Harold Cui, and Ben Fremin, the latest single, When You’re Around, by Gabe Kuchan is a riot of swanky and sun-soaked funk rock euphoria. The dazzling funk-rock masterpiece delivers a soulful essence reminiscent of Bill Withers, encapsulated in deep, groove-filled pockets constructed by the Chicago-born, Berklee College of Music-educated artist.

Driven by dynamic guitar work and the robust flair of tight rock riffs, the refreshingly nostalgic offering is a rich multi-layered soul-sating experience which sees the wild sax solos as one of the standout features around the vocal zeal as they inject an infectious energy that elevates the track to new heights.

Kuchan, frontman of Gabe Kuchan and the Funky Doctors, brings his extensive experience in funk, rock, and blues to the forefront in When You’re Around. His skill as a guitarist and vocalist, honed through years of busking and playing in various ensembles, shines through in this single. The influence of artists like Cory Wong and The Yellowjackets is evident, yet Kuchan’s unique style and interpretation make the song distinctly his own.

When You’re Not Around was officially released on November 18 stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Play That Funk Metal Music and Hit Play on Master Splinter’s Latest Installation of Clamorous Rancour, Wednesday Night

Posted on 28 November 2023

For their latest release, Wednesday Night, the trailblazing outfit, Master Splinter, which is hell-bent on being the breakthrough outfit out of the year funked up a sludgy and clamorous alt-rock aesthetic reminiscent of Mudhoney, Melvins and Soundgarden while proving once again that Mike Patton isn’t the only one capable of delivering the Mr Bungle effect.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like if a 70s funk rock ensemble had a violent acid trip with instruments in hand while being caught in the throes of lust, indulge in the Portland, Oregon-hailing troubadours of rhythmically tight, face-melting aggression’s latest offering, which punches through hip-hop-inspired drums and uses the devil may ensnare vocal lines to rile up the energy from the searing hot guitars and prowling basslines.

The 2023 Remaster of Wednesday Night hit the airwaves on October 26; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Whitelocust funked it up to the rafters in their debut rock-licked hit, Your Way

Posted on 6 August 2023

The London-hailing prodigal sons Whitelocust brought the funk rock rapture with them when they released their debut single and music video, Your Way, on the 21st of July.

With the frontman emanating the energy of Red Hot Chilli Pepper’s Anthony Kiedis and the sultry grooves of early Faith No More material giving the raucousness a sensuous touch of soul, Your Way is a nostalgic rock revelation that will leave you itching for it to pour from your speakers once more from the first hit of the addictively vintage 70s grooves.

After starting out in 2021, Whitelocust hasn’t failed to garner all the right traction to give their illustrious career momentum. It is only a matter of time before they are revered as London’s premier funk-rock outfit – especially after this juggernaut of a strong debut that will reel you in hook, bassline, and sinker.

Stream the official music video for Your Way on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast