Infectious Grooves
The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves

THE REVIEW

Album: The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves
Band: Infectious Grooves
Year: 1991
Label: Roadrunner
Genre: Funk, Metal

Line-Up (from http://www.artistdirect.com):
Mike Muir Vocals, Producer
Stephen Perkins Percussion, Drums, Timbales
Dean Pleasant Guitar
Adam Siegel Guitar, Artwork
Robert Trujillo Bass, Producer
Joel Zimmerman Art Direction
Kenny Komisar Executive Producer
Dave Kushner Guitar
Rocky George Guitar
Greg Calbi Mastering
Scott Crago Percussion, Conga, Drums
Dave Dunn Keyboards
Phil Kettner Guitar
Ozzy Osbourne Vocals

So yes, even nightdriver doesn’t exclusively listen to thrash! Incredible!

Well, my jokes aren’t great, but my musical tastes are not up for debate ( :) ) !

What do we have here? The Infectious Grooves? Oh look, there's Muir (Suicidal Tendencies) singing!

The Infectious Grooves was born as a side project of Muir, perhaps to express his Latin roots and as a moment of relaxation compared to the outbursts of Suicidal. Surely Trujillo’s touch is dominant here. I have no words to express how much engagement the bass lines from this gentleman's head can provide. Sometimes simple, direct, sometimes technical, introverted, it doesn’t matter—they truly do what the album title proposes: make you move, jump, and dance (and it doesn’t matter here whether you can or not, it’s just about making noise!).

The album's sound is extremely captivating and engaging with a SUPER production: all instruments are heard perfectly, with a simply fabulous front-line bass sound. Occasionally, Sarsippius, the character invented by the band, makes an appearance to throw some nonsense our way and make us laugh between tracks. I don’t know whose voice it is, but it’s hilarious!

The guitarists’ work is top-notch, with riffs that get directly under your skin. If I must use an adjective to describe it, the most fitting word is: CLASS. Never over the top, always perfectly balanced taste as only the greatest can achieve. Among the guitarists who participated is Rocky George, and that’s no accident.

The music is a mix of metal/pop/funk in a completely original blend. The standout track in the album is "Therapy", where the legendary Ozzy is in the chorus and (especially) Trujillo's bass lines stand out, above all the tracks "Do The Sinister" (the band's flagship), "Monster Skank, Infectious Grooves". Noteworthy is the very short "Infectious Blues" in which, over guitar sounds reminiscent of western tunes, Muir performs a blues/drunken vocal!

So, excellent album + excellent musicians (let’s remember Stephen Perkins on the drums, formerly of Jane's Addiction) = a must-listen. Listen to it when you feel pumped up, especially in good company! This and their second one remain, in my opinion, the best albums, though the entire discography of this small (but great) band deserves your attention, friends of Deb!

See you soon, night