roger - this is the shit
'and so, after years of watching the fonk-less frenzy of un-rock un-humanoids, roger decided to come down ..'
damn how to get into the concept that is roger ?
here are a few basic details first to get the glitterball spinning :
- fonk. its a way of life.
- the album has been released on head heritage. julian copes label.
- roger is a saviour of mankind and this is his story and associated soundtrack.
- so who the hell is roger ? according to the albums excellent sleevenotes :
"No-one knows exactly where he came from - some say he was always there. Now he is here and shall no doubt someday be someplace else. While he is here it is Roger’s mission to bring The Jams to the Un-humanoids using the combined power of Marshall Stacks, Crusty Beats and Fonky Riffs to free the minds of mankind"
- rogers' band consists of 13 members with names like 'the general', randy apostle, the docktor, sindy-x
ok, not all the above may be 100% based in reality (other than the head heritage aspect which is a lot more important than given credit methinks), but suspend that necessity for an hour and trust me you will find yourself fonking loving this album.
so just what is it ?
basically, it's a full on 60 minute prog rock funk epic of mammoth proportions, that revisits george clinton, prince and even the shout-out sloganeering of the mc5, and adds a serious level of spinal tap-esque fun(k). subsequently, most of the songs are long rock jams with great big fat bass lines that nyc based punk-funkers like !!! would die for, all iced over with a deluge of call-response chorus's, over the top wah-wah guitar solos and damn catchy grooves.
with titles like 'muthafucker', 'ramm it home', 'fonk hammer', 'clapp your fonkin hands' you can see that the guys have studied the art of george clintons p-funk mothership connection and dipped into his stylistic wordplay to great effect. highlights are far too many to mention, for example there is the 'live' recording of 'ramm it home' a track which was "recorded" at the royal variety performance in the presence of prince philip (roger are his favourite band according to the sleevenotes .. hmmmm !), with the hook 'will you be my prince' being shouted out to crowd noise gives an indication of the bands intention, especially as the musical backing is a direct descendant to the purple ones own new power generation rock-funk experiments. huge fun. then there is the full on rock blast of 'clapp your fonkin hands' with its straightforward deep purple rockout, the addictive bump-n-grind dance party beat of beyonce's sample source 'roger loves u'. some of the grooves don't quite hit the spot as the excess can be hard going from time time, but when the band are on a golden funk roll like on album closer 'fonk wars' where the hero roger gives the big 'w' (aka george the destroyer) what he's due to a monster size beat, then this is easily one of the most refreshing albums i have heard in ages.
after all, if the darkness can revive the god-awful hair rock sounds of the 80's and have the world at their spandex covered feet, and glc can try and make hip hop fun, then damn, why on rogers' earth can't an outer-space entity revive the 70's glamrock-fonk and put a smile on peoples faces at the same time. the last few years have been swamped with the sound of the rock-n-roll garage, a genre completely devoid of any funk and entertainment, SO NOW is THE time to have the bassline back in the limelight, i hereby declare that ROGER IS THE BAND TO DO IT.
corny as hell .. but here's the kiss off line : this is fonking excellent.
"bring the drumms !"