CD Review: Cadillac Jones- Junk in the Trunk Published 11/15/03

Listening to music has different effects on different people, which is why writing an impartial and accurate CD review is such a challenge. There are at least three different ways a CD can be reviewed. Either the CD will be dissected and described using lingo and terminology that mostly only other musicians can understand. Another option is for the writer to go from the gut. Decide they like it or they don’t, describing quickly the ups and downs of the CD and use a star rating system. The third option is to describe to the reader, images that the music incites, hoping to spark some personal chord of recognition and making an emotional connection between the musician, the author and the reader.

Since Meniscus has yet to formulate a star rating system (we only review good CDs), I have opted for option 3.

I believe that Cadillac Jones has traveled in time, from 1976 to the present. On Junk in the Trunk, Cadillac Jones shows that they are firstly, jazz musicians, second funk revivalists, and finally, bad-ass seventies hipsters. Cadillac Jones has found a formula that works: they consistently integrate driving drums, funk bass, rock guitar, smooth saxophones, and combine that with the modern stylings of the turntabilist to achieve a brit-funk gangsta sound. If a standard Guy Ritchie film has a musical soul, Cadillac Jones lives there. It is a skill, in and of itself, for a band to preserve the sound of the past, while integrating that of the present.

On “Sammy Sosa,” the band brings us in with a Fat Albert style intro. The sultry, slow funk grooves paint a scene of sitting in a high-rise apartment in Manhattan, drinking martinis and doing other unmentionables until dawn. It’s the kind of song that can be playing in the background for hours and you never get tired of it, and before you know its 3 a.m., the bars are closed, and you’re all dressed up with no where to go. The false climaxes, faux endings, restarts, changes of pace and multi-layered patterns, make this the gem of the album. Five minutes into the song and we are back to Fat Albert.

The band steps it up a notch on “Galaxy Galore” where funk travels to outer space and back. Again the revival is present. Funk meets club electronica meets Charlie’s Angels and Farah Fawcett style (but not Cameron Diaz!); when sexy had chic and rhythm. Funk guitar, whaka whaka, driving bass, and classic horn riffs create a perfect backdrop for a would-be seventies TV show starring a white guy that does Kung Fu and his bad-ass-mother-fucker black brother. They chase aliens around Los Angeles and occasionally save that fine disco honey from abduction.

As if funk weren’t enough, Cadillac Jones throws in some standards for good practice, to emphasize their musical training and skill. Cadillac Jones shows its jazzy side when they cover “Giant Steps,” by John Coltrane. The result is a beautiful and accurate tribute to a timeless jazz standard.

When listening to Junk in the Trunk, the energy of the recording transcends to the listener. The funk trip that Cadillac Jones takes you on will keep you coming back for more. I would suggest picking up this CD and checking out Cadillac Jones when they come to your town. A live show is sure to turn you into a funk machine and put your sneakers to the test.