antiMusic.com: Lettuce - Rage! Review

Lettuce - Rage! Review
by Gary Schwind

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Do you like Lettuce? Even if you don't like the vegetable, you should get to know and love the band. This is a band that is funk to the core, largely influenced by Parliament. You don't need to listen long to hear the influence, and the band is also pretty overt about it with a cover of "Chocolate City."

The band also covers "Move On Up" and "Express Yourself." The cover of "Move on Up" is stunningly like the original version. On the one hand, that's not a bad thing, considering Mr. Mayfield wrote such a tremendous song. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind seeing the band put more of its own twist to it.

But fear not, this is not just an album of cover songs. The majority of the album is Lettuce originals chock full of the things that makes funk great: hot horns, great guitar and organ, and, of course, the rhythm section that makes it all go. It's mostly instrumental, so there aren't many opportunities to sing along. However, this album is almost an hour long, so you won't have any reason to feel cheated. Funk fans, rejoice. For funk is not dead. It is alive and well in the music of Lettuce. Don't be surprised if you find yourself dancing to this, no matter where you are listening to it.

CD Info and Links

Lettuce - Rage!
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