Review Summary: A helping hand from George Clinton ensure that this forgotten LP is a diverse, eccentric and loveable funk rock gem.
It’s been an age since I’ve written a review on Sputnik, so long infact that the folks at admin appear to have disabled my old account. Nevertheless, under a spanking brand new alias I’ve decided to review an album by a band that I can assume that no reader on this little website have ever had the pleasure of hearing. One that I stumbled across almost a decade ago, on those now infamous amazon.com music reviews that usually feature first grade grammar errors and awkward phrases such as, “dis is the greatest music evr, it makes me happi” etc., and so on. One particular review that caught my eye, however, concerning a French funk-rock band, was distinctly well written, coaxing the innocent reader into believing that this album was the work of some funk-rock deity higher than Prince, even Hendrix. So with abated breath I purchased the album, awaiting those funk rock sounds that I craved for so much after ravaging through the RHCP, Faith No More, Living Colour, and Funkadelic discographies in an obsessive teenage search for my own funk-rock utopia. So today, ten years after first listening to FFF’s debut effort and hot on the heels on news of the bands reunion it seems perfectly apt to give the album a review that it duly deserves.
Rather predictably, Federation Françoise du Fonck’s debut effort, Blast Culture fails to reach the lofty expectations of Blood Sugar Sex Magic, or FNM’s The Real Thing, but what the album does perfectly well is incorporate elements of George Clinton’s eccentric and loose funk style around a loose Afrobeat sound reminiscent of Damon Albarn’s recent project Rocketjuice and the Moon collaboration through bi-lingual English/ French lyrics and tribal drum beats. However, this diversity is not without cause; the album was produced in New York by the afore mentioned funk-lord George Clinton who was said to be blown away by the bands ability and style following the release of their debut semi-hit ‘Marco.’
Blast Culture’s opening track, ‘Nouvelle Generation du Funk’ heavily flaunts Clinton’s influences from its use of wah-wah pedal effects and horn sections, to a beautifully layered harmonised chorus section: Only its French lyrics serving differentiate itself from something recorded in the heart of Georgia. While the core of FFF’s playing style is based on funk leanings, it is the breadth of sub-genre’s that Blast Culture covers serve to emphasise both the bands incredible ability, and the sonic depth of the albums material. ‘Devil in Me’ features a soulful vocal performance over a deep funk-metal riff, while ‘La Complainte du Plombier’ echoes a Sting-like reggae vibe groove before breaking out into an addictive Afrobeat drumming breakdown with layers of 60’s Moog synthesiser and saxophone
Oddly, the LP’s lead single, ‘Acid Rain”, is also its weakest moment. It copy and paste guitar riff, odd drumming, forgettable melody, and hilariously awkward lyrics all point to perhaps what led to the bands eventual path to obscurity: Poor record label decision making that favoured generic saleability instead of artistic credibility, which Blast Culture had in spades. The concluding quartet of tracks is perhaps the albums most prized asset. ‘Mama Fonck’ is feel good funk-rock in its most unadulterated form, while ‘Requiem Pour un Con’ see’s Serge Gainsbourg’s French rock classic turned on its head into one of the most outstanding tracks on the album, showcasing the bands ability to transform even the most inapt of tracks into a funk gem.
Headline performances at Britain’s Glastonbury festival and Denmark’s Roskilde followed, but poor single sales (which was all the mattered in the early 90’s) and a typically cliché difficult second album all lent their hand to the bands eventual demise. Though not on a musical par with Mike Patton’s 1994 masterpiece that was Angel Dust, or even the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Blast Culture’s unique character, coupled with an obligatory musical prowess provide a listening experience as subjectively enjoyable as anything that that short lived school of early 90’s alternative funk gave us.
