Review Summary: Excellent instrumentation often gets left in the dust by crappy vocals and lyrics.
Whenever I recall the music made by the group Infectious Grooves, one thought invariably pops into my mind:
grease. Perhaps it's the fusion of funk and metal, with plods upon plods of wah-wah and eternally-groovy bass present in the mix. Maybe it's the lyrics and hip-hop oriented vocals that make me feel almost dirty, or the unrelenting drums that conjure up this thought. The most feasible reason that, whenever I listen to or even think about Infectious Grooves, I think of grease is simple: whilst first listening this group, I was cooking a hamburger in a pan that was foolishly small. There was grease popping everywhere, literally cooking my forearms. The brown, swirling mass of liquid on the skillet was the perfect compliment to the wah-loaded guitar and bass. The lyrics really did make me feel dirty, as my shirt was ruined.
Basically, this perfect compliment of musical and physical experience is the reason that I listen to and enjoy music.
Infectious Grooves are, as stated previously, a rap-funk-metal band. Heavy riff-age combined with a groovy rhythm section and hip-hop lyrical delivery are found in every track. The band is perhaps most famous for featuring the bass talents of one Robert Trullijo, Jason Newstead's replacement in Metallica. As well, vocalist Mike Muir is famous as being the voice of the hardcore outfit Suicidal Tendencies.
Groove Family Cyco, the band's 1994 effort, is, musically, a fantastic record. The musicianship is superb. Robert Trujillo's lines are incredibly groovy, while at the exact same moment retaining a level of technicality that is unreal. Adam Siegel's guitar seamlessly shifts gears from that of tight funk to relentless metal riff-age, a major aspect of the group's sound throughout the record. The drumming of Brooks Wackerman provides an excellent back-beat, a hip-hop feel that rounds out an instrument section that creates a truly unique blend of genres and styles.
The true problem with the album is Mike Muir’s vocals and lyrics. When I say that they make me feel dirty, it's not in a good way. Simply put, his vocals suck. They try to convey the same ideal that the lyrics themselves attempt: that Mike is a sort of urban tough-guy, one that carries a gun everywhere, and gets into it with rival gangs, as well as the police. A lazy drawl that tries to sound hard and tough is pretty much all that can be found, vocally, on
Groove Family Cyco. It drags the album down considerably, and is what ultimately causes many songs to be downright mediocre, instead of the gems they might have been.
The opening track,
Violent and Funky is a perfect example of the exemplary musicianship, as well as the terrible vocals, that Infectious Grooves presents to the listening audience. A cool guitar riff opens the scene, giving way to an insane bass line and an in-your-face drumbeat. Out of nowhere, Adam delivers a savage metal riff that allows Brooks and Robert to just unleash upon the listener. Mike's delivery and lyrics here are just dumb, and thank goodness they are sparse in the verse. A bass and guitar duel ensues, and a winner cannot be determined, as it is just too cool. The savage riff enters another verse section, where the vocals continue to drag the band down. A call/response consisting of the song title ends the track, and we have arrived proper.
From there, peaks and valleys abound. When the music hits moments of musical superiority, as seen in the intro of
Frustrated Again, where the instrument section just pummels the listener with everything they’ve got, it's real good. Deep bass, vicious leads, and hellish drumming, and even a tolerable chant from Mike make this an early highlight. A wicked solo from Adam allows for even more ferocity later, on the part of the entire band.
Die Lika Pig, while winning the award for the dumbest song title ever, carries a feeling of foreboding, of evil, before unleashing the funk mercilessly. The bass-heavy verse is so good that it makes the vocals sound better, as does the guitar riffs of the chorus, even though the line
Die like a pig/you pig is inexcusably and insurmountably dumb.
All is not well, however. The duo of pure suck that is
Rules Go Out the Window and
Groove Family Cyco is the archetype of what is truly wrong with the album. Now, so far the musicality has been fantastic, and these two tracks are no exception. The problems that have plagued the great tracks on the album are amplified tenfold here.
Rules Go Out the Window features a new, odd vocalist that takes about gunfights and whatever the hell he wants....it's tiring, boring, and it makes the cool guitar riffs and bass line behind it seem to suck to high heaven. As well, the song gets no points for featuring a chorus that basically says that, to succeed in life, you need to have a gun. Or something, I don't know, it's too stupid to dwell upon for very long.
The album's title track features a driving guitar line and a bass that bites back with every twist and turn. The track is nearly catchy, that is, until the verse hits. These passages are not only a low point for the album, but for vocals and lyrics in general. Mike's tough guy "I'll f
uck you up" attitude was tiring from the beginning, and he just refuses to give it up. Here, it's grounds for never allowing him to make music ever again. The chorus is just a rehash of the title of the song/album, and I'm sick to death of the whole track at this point.
The album does, thankfully, have a minor saving grace. Unfortunately, the final three tracks of the album come too late to save the album entirely.
Cousin Randy features a menacing instrument section, and sports the best lyrics on
Groove Family Cyco. They tell the tale of a tortured family member who's maniacal, abused, and rather unspoken-of. They are tragic, and behind a wall of heavy guitar and splashing cymbals, they make for the best song on the album. The music on the track
Why? is harsh, yet the vocals are rather soft, with introspective lyrics. There's not much in the way of musical variation to be found here, but the song is groovy and pleasant nonetheless. Album closer
Made It shifts the entire focus of the album, with an introduction reminiscent of a barbershop quartet, then jumping to a jazzy section complete with a fantastic lead line from Adam. It gets heavy and wah-loaded from here, with Mike's best vocal performance to boot. All in all, it's a terrific way to wrap up the album.
Groove Family Cyco is quite far from terrible. Adam's funky yet heavy guitar couples with Robert's deep, popping bass and Brooks' spastic and rap-oriented drumming to create a fantastic mix, a beast that is too cool to ignore. Mike's vocals do drag the album down, but it can be ignored in the face of such awesome instrumentation The grease that flies from the speakers during the play of this album pops and swirls with every minute. It burns a little here and there, but that can be ignored if the burger is good enough in the end.
THE GOOD:
"Die Lika Pig," "Violent and Funky"
The instrumentation to be found on the album is beyond top-notch
THE BAD:
"Groove Family Cyco," "Rules Go Out the Window"
Mike Muir's vocals are, more often than not, mediocre.
THE RATING:
3/5
