PLAYGROUND BOSTON

Self-Released,
March 21st, 2009

The Dark Side of Funk

Anyone who’s been on a college campus in the last ten years has inevitably known, had class with, was roommates with, slept with, or at least unwittingly stumbled upon a rock/funk/hip hop band. How could you not? At least during my university days in the early 2000s, as rock guitarists began to fully embrace the party-starting power of rap, it seemed like these groups were popping up everywhere. This increasingly-mainstream hybrid genre encompasses all that is cool, blending styles into an aural orgy of guitar solos, slap bass, Wurlitzer-style synths and rhyme spittin’.

From what I’ve witnessed during my undergrad and life-after-college days however, most of these groups involve a tight rhythm section comprised of music majors studying jazz and killing time in a band fronted by some dude with big muscles, a backwards hat, a carefully shaven chin-strap and slow unimpressive rhymes. This was the line-up I was sure I’d see when I was reluctantly dragged to a Force show about two years ago, having heard it described to me as a “rock and funk band with a white guy who raps.” Man, was I surprised when in place of the I-take-myself-too-seriously meat stick I was expecting, stood Lord Scyentifik.

photo by Scott Gacek

After witnessing The Force in action, it’s impossible to review their record debut Techology is Pain without first mentioning their live show. Helmed by the indefatigable Vic Foresta, a.k.a. Lord Scyentifik, The Force explodes on stage, pumping out a relentless sonic assault of raw energetic hard rock laced with funky grooves and motor-mouthed vocal spit. Like many of the frontier funk groups before them, The Force isn’t merely a band- they are an act. Their shows invariably turn into whacky spectacles, involving the entrance of beautiful female back-up singers from the audience, bizarre dress codes, and Scyentifik not so much dancing to his band’s music, but violently convulsing in time. When I first tore the shrink-wrap off of Technology Is Pain and popped it into my laptop for a listen, the question I wondered was- can these guys bottle their insane freakish live show energy into a plastic disc?

photo by Salls Perry

The answer to that question is yes and no, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The nine songs on Technology is Pain certainly do not lack energy. The Force’s recorded output however is less danceable than their live performance, and veers more towards the darker elements embedded in the band’s music. Although the disc starts out on a bright note, featuring upbeat funky guitar and keyboard that Shaft himself could strut out to, from there things descend into shadier territory.

With song titles like “All Hollows Eve,” “Insomniac Dreams” and “Razorblade” it’s apparent that these guys dig horror movies, and it shows in their sound. Scyentifik’s verses, while often playful, are laden with references to blood, sex and pain. GOOD FUN! Their six-minute “Insomniac Dreams” wails with images of lust and loneliness in dark city streets. Backed with an eerie synth organ and powerfully haunting vocals (provided by Jamie Rioux of The Few) the song slinks through half-whispered verses of a wanton and restless night dweller. Further, the albums title-track “Technology is Pain” doesn’t so much coax you to move as is does pound its fat unison guitar and bass riff over you, forcing you to nod along. Bracketed by sci-fi sounding movie samples and interspersed with turntable scratching and robotic keyboard-generated bleeping, the track sounds like the backdrop to a hostile alien invasion.

Immediately recognizable in The Force’s music is their love for Mike Patton. Their twisted amalgamation of heavy distorted funk and rock riffs with rapid fire vocals draw heavily from 90s era Faith No More and Mr. Bungle albums. Even Scyentifik’s pervy-sounding lustings on “Insomniac Dreams” sound heavily influenced by Patton’s 2001 side project Lovage. In fitting homage to their musical progenitor, The Force ably cover FNM’s “Be Aggressive,” with backing vocals provided by members of fellow Boston rockers The AndWutz.

In all, The Force put forward a strong debut with Technology Is Pain. Each member brings impressive musical chops to the table, and their strong chemistry honed in the Greater Boston rock-club circuit, carries through into the studio. Since each of the Force’s shows seem like a party, I had high expectations for the album to encapsulate an uber blow-out. What they actually present comes across as a darker heavier chunk of music, sounding more like a badass rock/funk skirmish than a shindig.

www.myspace.com/theforcemusic

n