RETRO REVIEW: Mother’s Finest’s ‘Meta-Funk’n-Physical’ (2003)

As Mother’s Finest’s kick-starter campaign to enlist their fanbase in being a part of their first new album for 10 years heads into its final week, I thought it a good opportunity to tale a look back at their 2003 release ‘Meta-Funk’n-Physical’..

I remember the first time I listened to this track. I was anxious to get it home and put it on the player. ‘Funk-a-Wild‘ promises much and delivers even more. An insidious synth sequence starts a stealth-like groove, lulling you into a false sense of security before the riff hits you, dripping with the funk, the staccato bass…Baby Jean’s wonderfully provocative lyrics draw you in and suddenly you’re into the killer chorus. Your head’s banging, your foot’s tapping, and you’re still only on track one. Oh yeah, this is gonna get Meta-funk’n physical!

On ‘Bring it’ Mother’s Finest display their innate ability to throw damn near everything in the cooking pot and make it taste good….rapping over Moses Mo’s almost eastern trippy guitar lines, Glenn Murdock and Joyce Kennedy lead us into a growling hard rock chorus, and it all fits like a glove.

I involuntarily break into a smile when I hear Wyzzard’s wicked popping bass syncopated with Moses’ sledgehammer chops underpinning Baby Jean’s chorus on ‘I Believe’. These guys make the groove sound effortless…and in reality it is. Because you cannot learn the groove. You got it, or you ain’t. And Mother’s Finest OWN the groove.

The rest of the album is just as eclectic – beautifully performed ballads such as ‘Don’t take your love’, the quirky funk of ‘What happens when we die?’ and the inspired guest-laden take of Hendrix’s  ‘If 6 were 9’.

‘Flat on my back’ drifts lazily into the detuned stomp of ‘The N-Groove’ a 21st century re-boot of their very own back catalogue, reinventing ‘Like a Negro’ and ‘Niggiz cant sang Rock’n’Roll’.

The final two tracks on the album illustrate Mother’s Finest’s joyous schizophrenia perfectly. ‘Set me Free’, a beautifully rendered classic ballad showcasing Joyce Kennedy’s excellent vocal, followed by ‘Hard time’, a soliloquy  that she delivers in spoken word over a slick syncopated groove, dropping in and out of gospel influenced chorus with ease, then punching you in the face with a full-on rock guitar solo. They do that a lot, Mother’s Finest. They Surprise you. Because they can.

Donate to their Kickstarter campaign. I have, because, 10 years on,  I wanna get surprised all over again.

To Donate, Click on the Image below:

Kev Moore

How cool is this? – The Mother’s Finest kickstarter project – 10 days to go!

Mother’s Finest, the legendary funk rock band from Atlanta Georgia, are asking YOU to participate in their bid to fund their first new album in 10 years. Visit their KICKSTARTER page to get involved!

Today, their guitarist Moses Mo released a video, detailing a brand new perk added to the bidding menu – the one-of-a-kind Mother’s Finest ‘shield’ guitar, built by Jordan guitars! Check out Moses’ video below and head over to the KICKSTARTER site to make your pledge.

BE PART OF FUNKIN’ HISTORY!

Kev Moore

Mother’s Finest – The Kickstarter campaign

I’ve always been drawn to that bastard offspring of music – Funk Rock. Ever since a guy at my student’s union going by the unlikely name of Andy Starbuck took me aside and played me ‘Hot Wire’ by Trapeze. That led me to explore damn near everything Glenn Hughes had recorded, and in the late 70’s when I became a professional bassist and singer and went to tour for several years in Scandinavia, I discovered Mother’s Finest. Perhaps it’s the bassist in me that loves my riffs hot heavy and funky – but whatever the reason, I loved their mix of rock funk and blues, Baby Jean’s vocal screaming out over Mo’s sledgehammer riffs. When Brian Adams got Tina to sing on ‘It’s Only Love’, I was like “MF have been there and done that a decade before you dude!”.

Mother’s Finest are a pioneering, historically important band. And against all the odds, they are still out there doing it today. They haven’t released any new music for a decade, but all that’s about to change. In conjunction with the fundraising site Kickstarter, they have launched a campaign to create a brand new album with the help of their loyal fanbase. If you haven’t heard this band, you need to check them out. They have inspired so many bands that followed them. Extreme, the Dan Reed Network, and don’t tell me Prince never had them on his turntable!

It’s a niche music, because traditional metalheads shy away from it, and funk purists too, for different reasons, but for me, damn! Funk rock is greater than the sum of its parts, and nobody delivers it like Mother’s Finest. Check them out , and then head to the pledge site at the link below the video and sign up. Be a part of it and help them make their next killer album!

THE MOTHER’S FINEST KICKSTARTER PROJECT- DONATE NOW!

Kev Moore