Concrete Playground

I suppose everyone has to give up the funk eventually… Sydney eight piece Kid Confucius have stripped back the influences coming from D’Angelo, The Roots and future soul, omitted the cheese and even swapped afros for skinny ties on their third album The Let Go. 

Maybe they’re just giving the funk a rest. The soul, musicianship and texture are still retained on The Let Go, but instead of tight horns and slow grooves, it’s all full throttle guitars and southern licks. They’ve almost done the opposite of Kings Of Leon, instead of disappearing into stadium oblivion and smothering everything with reverb, KC have turned down the fidelity that can be heard on 2005’s Stripes, turning to vintage gear and tape machines with the aid of Tony Buchan (Andy Bull, Macromantics).

The latest single is called Big Black Cloud and it’s a smoking rocker following on from the more sunny dual guitar-handclap love song Darling I Need Ya and the garage/soul of Good Luck. They are taking their umbrellas and their Big Black Cloud tour around the east coast with the help of indie rockers Bird Automatic and the Central Coast’s Slow Down Honey, who are making some very sweet and radio friendly pop.