Magic Black Pumas ~ Sticky Confection (EP) (album review) ... Pour some sugar on me taken literally!

Style: hard rock, post-grunge
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: St. Paul, Minnesota

Members: John Chandler ~ guitar
Tony Crispigna ~ vocals/guitar
Rick Franzen ~ bass/vocals
Kris Godfrey ~ drums

 

 

 

  Trying to describe a band can get very difficult. Trying to describe Sticky Confection leaves me tongue-tied to find the right word or the right band to compare the Magic Black Pumas to. There's a little of this & a little of that, something old & something new & they rock out with a feel that's not so brash as it is groovy. The end. That's it. You want details? Check out their myspace. The Count Basie Big Band was famous for it's "Basie Beat", which was where the entire rhythm section played the same thing to create this powerful rhythmic beat behind the melody line. The MBP have their own approach to the Basie Beat. A strong melodic beat goes through their songs with each instrument not trying so much for it's own interpretation to the melody but all echoing & playing around each other to create one big moving beat & one big sound with little variations appearing, such as a guitar solo or break. I recently watched a Sondheim birthday tribute at Lincoln Center with the NY Philharmonic Orchestra. One of the most noticeable things about Sondheim's arrangements is how the melody line will bounce around to different instruments allowing the texture of the melody to change even when the notes basically don't. The MBP have a similar approach in that while all the instruments are creating that big 'Puma Beat' at times the guitar will soften to make way for the vocals or or the bass or drums will put a roll into the texture, but the beat & melody always remains. Strong base-line, variable drumming, upbeat driving patterns with a groovy bounce at times - that's the simple way of describing the MBP. Comparing them to jazz & Broadway, however distant they are from those forms, is the difficult approach but the best I'm able to muster. "No Visible Scars" is a particular highlight of the EP, though I'll confess that the lyrics are sometimes a bit abstract with words seemingly put together for their sound & ambiance than making sense.