Menahan Street Band

The credentials of the Menahen Street Band are impossibly cool. Brought together by founder Thomas Brenneck, the band are comprised of members of Antibalas, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and the Budos Band, and Make The Road By Walking is a sizzling excursion into late '60s/early '70s instrumental funk. Being that this is a Daptone (by way of new subsidiary Dunham) release, the rhythm is predictably and impeccably tight — Cliff Nobles and Company and early Kool and the Gang are fair points of comparison. But there's ambience conjured by the horn charts, vibes and "bling" (a strange sound effect Brenneck creates by tuning and plucking his guitar on the opposite side of the bridge) that ultimately makes this Road well worth travelling. "Tired of Fighting" and "Home Again" are relaxed compositions full of summertime-like reverie that are guaranteed to help cure the winter blues. The finest cut here is a take on "Going the Distance" from the Rocky soundtrack that sounds more like an outtake from a lost blaxploitation film than anything featuring Sylvester Stallone. Make The Road By Walking is mood music for the astute, streetwise funkateer.