FUNKE AND THE TWO TONE BABY- Balance (Self Released FKE004)

FUNKE AND THE TWO TONE BABY BalanceIf you’ve not encountered him before, the name might expect some sort of Bootsy Collins style psychedelic funk, but those in the know will be well aware that FATTTB is Rochester’s self-styled one-man mechanical alt-blues band, Dan Turnbull, a dynamic storm of acoustic guitar, harmonica, pedals, beatboxing, stompbox and bass lines that hits you like a nuclear assault, both on disc and in his almost exhaustingly energetic live shows.

Following on from 2013’s debut Battles and last year’s The Last Thing We’ll See Is The Sea EP, he returns with his sophomore album, its title reflecting the way in which he plays various styles off against one another to create a rich and satisfyingly diverse collection that nods to influences ranging from Led Zep and Muddy Waters to Beefheart and Roy Harper yet emerges as his own, uniquely individual sound.

A dirty bass riff introduces album opener ‘Not Enough Bonobo’, a wailing, rowdy indie blues stomp about the tendency to let our primate instincts rule that crams in a bagful of monkey references, including the line “ not enough Bonobo mate, too much chimpanzee”, shouted out in a broad Medway accent. ‘Not Looking For It Anymore’ delivers a more loose–limbed basic blues riff combined with beatboxing on a song about finding love, but then things swerve into the urgent strummed acoustic folk of ‘The Boatman And The Thief’, the pedals taking a rest while harmonica wails across its tale of bloody deeds.

There’s more folksiness to be found on the equally perky autobiographical ‘Tales Of The Place I Live’, his gravelly voice taking on a softer, sandier tone as he sings about life on the Medway, from the cathedral to bodies that rise on the tide at Chatham docks, and ‘I Should’ve Stayed In Bed’, its simple but deft fingerpicking firm evidence that his use of effects isn’t to disguise any shortfalls in instrumental talent.

As you might expect from someone who spent last year travelling over 20,000 miles and playing 130 shows and festivals, there’s a number relating to life on the road, ‘Anchor’ an acoustic blues with a percussive itch and throbbing bass line about having a place to return to and a reason to do so that you could imagine Robert Plant sinking his teeth into. But, if that speaks of a sense of security and comfort, with its suitably feverish and queasy intro, ‘I’m Not Well’ is a lyrically unsettling number about mental exhaustion built upon a nervy riff and a raw electric guitar solo evocative of something out of ‘Shakin’ All Over’ or ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’.

As with his debut, Turnbull shades his blues-folk foundations with a variety of musical colours, the busking strum of ‘If You’re Nice To Me’ built upon a cocktail of jazz and percussive reggae lurch with a splash of whoa ho ho shanty midway while ‘Anarchy’, an observation on contemporary politics, is a mash up of wheezing blues, Jack White stomp and echoey psychedelics with a face-off between harmonica wail and burbling fat jazz trombone, courtesy of Graham Mann.

Welding together throaty fingerboard thump, scratchy loop, circling bass riff, electric guitar harmonica and skittish percussion break, the elated ‘Medicine For The Soul’ closes up shop with a driving, whisky-fumed, perspiration leaking one man jam that many a full blues band would be hard pressed to match.   Weigh to go.

Mike Davies

Artist’s website: http://www.funkeandthetwotonebaby.co.uk/

‘I’m Not Well’: