Detroit Grand Pubahs

Not everyone liked the Detroit Grand Pubah's first single, "Sandwiches," but few could deny the humour and originality teased in lines like "You can be the bun/And I can be the burger, girl," combined with pulsing beats. On Funk All Y'all, the duo of Mack Goudy Jr. (aka Paris the Black Fu) and Andy Toth keep pushing buttons - morally as well as musically - with unadulterated stompers like "Ride" (featuring the directive chant "Skirts up/Pants down") and "One Hump or Two." More than just a set of pervy jokes, each track offers a theatrical experience of its own, with the ever-outrageous Goudy running through a freaky script of costume changes. He plays a polite sex therapist on "Dr. Bootygrabber," parodies a ghetto thug on "Offbeat Killer" and then cross-dresses as grandma Nurse Hearse and calls the crowd to get down on "Involvement Fluid." But lyrics aside, the Pubah schtick is really about the funk. Their bass lines twitch out with deep Detroit-style frequencies as drum machines enunciate the erotic tonalities of butt slapping. Instrumentals like "Artificial Intelligence" and "The Suture the Future" push into interstellar barriers of electro, while the title track shows the inheritance of Parliament with its bass-grind hooks and choral euphoria. A healthy alternative to the serious side of Detroit techno, but a good lesson in its generic history as well.