Scary Goldings is party music by a collection of crackerjack musicians just getting together and having fun; this is the same kind of setup that made Joe Bonamassa’s and Tal Bergman’s Rock Candy Funk Party so much friggin’ fun.
It all starts with guitarist Ryan Lerman and keyboardist Jack Conte leading a funk collective called Scary Pockets. Add Goldings into the mix and you have Scary Goldings. Every time the three get together, they bring in other top-shelf musicians to round out the group, like Robben Ford, Tim Lefebvre and well-credentialed guys like Louis Cole, Lemar Carter and Tamir Barzilay to man the drums. For their fourth outing plainly called IV, the star factor gets amped up with the addition of old vet guitarist John Scofield and one of the hottest young funk bassists around today, MonoNeon.
IV has a little bit of a reunion nested inside of it; Goldings had brought his maximal organ skills to mid-90s Scofield, contributing to standout Sco albums Hand Jive and Groove Elation and he has lent piano and organ to a couple of other Scofield-led albums here and there since then.
The familiarity helps but it’s not necessary, at least not in the case of MonoNeon, who has never played with Scofield prior to these sessions. In room full of hot shots, the relative newcomer MonoNeon manages to shine brightest on the high-strung funk strain “Bruise Cruise,” he is everywhere upside this tune.
Even when they slow things down, it’s deliciously fonky. For “Lurch,” Goldings lends a church-y Farfisa organ sound to that lazy, loping beat. The interwoven rhythm guitars get “Professor Vicarious” going strong on a song punctuated by some delightfully quirky stuff like Goldings’ keyboard noises and Scofield’s slightly off-kilter guitar sound.
A crunchy, early-70s Wurlitzer sound (from Conte) and Goldings’ Sunday morning organ makes “Pony Up” just satisfy the soul. Sco gets to solo through much of “The Shiner” and that’s just fine; he’s never failed to find the pocket and leap right into it. “Meter’s Running” simulates “Cissy Strut” running in slo-mo, so maybe that title is trying to tell us something. In any case, Scofield’s blues side comes all out for this occasion, and Goldings once again preaches on the organ.
“Disco Pills” ain’t disco but damn, it’s very persuasive in making you move. “Cornish Hen” rides on a Big Easy beat, something that Scofield knows his way around very well. “Hi Ho Silverstein” has a tough groove and Goldings pours a spacy keyboard over it to give it a retro-future feel. “Tacobell’s Canon” has a catchy, pop-like song structure, which is notable in an album full of riffs stretched out to whole songs.
Sometimes you want great chops and sometimes you just want good time music. Scary Goldings’ IV has got both covered.
IV is now on sale, from all the usual outlets.
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