While the Greyboy Allstars have showcased their ceaselessly creative take on jazz, funk, and dance music since their 1995 debut,
West Coast Boogaloo, with 2013's
Inland Emperor they raise the bar for themselves by delving into even more funky, stylistically varied sounds than on past recordings. This time out, minus
DJ Greyboy, the band is stripped down to the core members of saxophonist/flutist
Karl Denson, keyboardist
Robert Walter, guitarist/vocalist
Elgin Park, bassist/vocalist
Chris Stillwell, and drummer
Aaron Redfield.
The Greyboy Allstars tend to take their time between releasing albums (it was ten years between 1997's
A Town Called Earth and 2007's
What Happened to Television?) and clearly that has given them time to develop all sorts of musical interests and influences. Here we get a menagerie of sounds that are so evocative and mood-setting, they almost work as a soundtrack to a film. There is the creepy, psychedelic opening number "Profundo Grosso"; with its languid organ and fuzz guitar it could easily be the theme to a '60s Italian horror movie. We also get the '90s acid jazz synth funk of "Multiplier" with its crisp, percussive guitar riff, 8-bit-inspired keyboard hits, and synthesizer strings set against a soulful saxophone melody.
The Greyboy Allstars also deliver several cuts with vocals, including the '70s folk-soul number "Old Crow" and the '70s deep funk-inspired "Bitch Inside Me." Later in the album, the band leaves room for several far-reaching, exploratory songs including the hypnotic "Diminishing Blackness," which sounds like a
Doors instrumental B-side, and the grungy saxophone skronkfest "Trashtruck." Ultimately,
Inland Emperor is an engaging, cinematic album that never fails to grab your attention.