Almost Urban

Deborah Sengupta grew up in a cornfield in northwest Ohio where her multicultural family was something of a curious anomaly. She didn't like it very much. On a whim, she landed in Austin in 1995, where, before coming to Austin360.com in 2004, she drove a limo, played bass in a band, promoted fabulous parties and answered a whole lot of phones.

In 2000, she began building Web sites about Austin's urban music scene and became so insistent that Austin hip-hop shouldn't be ignored that KOOP radio gave her a show to prove it. In a country town with a heart full of rock 'n' roll, she firmly believes it also has a funky underbelly that's almost urban.

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The entry titled "Fishbone still packs a killer cacophony."

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Austin360 blogs > Almost Urban > Archives > 2007 > April > 11 > Entry

Fishbone still packs a killer cacophony

By | Wednesday, April 11, 2007, 07:50 PM

I was pretty pleased to find the new Fishbone CD, “Still Stuck In Your Throat,” sitting on my desk when I came in to work on Monday morning. Somewhere between the funk of Parliament and the screech of Jane’s Addiction, this ska-soul-metal-punk-rap fusion act emerged in the ’80s, packing frenetic energy and a solid wall of sound. I’m surely dating myself to admit it, but the first show I went to in college was Fishbone with Primus at First Avenue in Minneapolis in 1991. I fought my way through the crowd at First Ave. and spent the better part of the show plastered against the front of the stage, watching in awe as “Dirty” Walter A. Kibby II spat out crunchy flourishes on his piccolo trumpet and singer Angelo Moore waved his arms wildly, coaxing the mosh pit at the front of the stage to move in a massive circle.

On the first listen, “Still Stuck In Your Throat” didn’t really grab me until I hit track 4, “Party With Saddam” (the first single), with its bold horn line, bouncy ska backbeat and tightly harmonized chorus. The early part of the album seemed a little more grumble than groove. But I suspect some of the complexity of the band’s cacophony was lost in the crappy sound system of my little Ford Ranger. When I gave the album a second spin with headphones on, I could pick up the fast-paced flute line cascading over the growling guitars on “Let Dem Ho’s Fight,” as well as the hysterical lyrics praising strip-club brawling. By the time Angelo’s voice rose to a tortured howl over the slow blues groove of track 5, “We Just Lose Our Minds,” I was sold. More than 20 years after the band dropped their first EP, Fishbone is still slapping together thrash, funk, ska and soul in a vibrant mix that is absolutely their own. The clincher is the final track of the album, a cover of Sublime’s “Date Rape.” The harrowing tale of karmic justice is told with a ferocious blend of skank and storm and the end result is downright dangerous.

Fishbone plays the inside stage at Emo’s on Wednesday, April 25.

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