The Monophonics perform at Elbo Room in September at their CD release party.
By Ailene Sankur
Last Saturday I saw the seven-piece, horn-heavy funk band Monophonics at the Boom Boom Room, and they were freaking awesome. But let’s back up. Two summers ago, I saw legendary Bay Area funk jam band Vinyl - if you haven’t yet, go immediately - at the Boom Boom. It was back in my drinking days with a hard-partying boy, and we were both dancing - and fighting - like crazy to their old-school funk meets Latin groove music. I’m a pretty simple girl to please concert-wise: I only ask to feel the music deep in my belly and for it to make me want to move. That night, Vinyl did both.
I’ve been meaning to catch them again, so when I heard that the Monophonics were practically sired by Vinyl - drummer Austin Bohlman of the Monos was asked to bring together the “funkiest guys he knew” to make an opening band for Vinyl - I knew it was time to head back to the ‘Mo.
And was in love by the first blows from the sax. The Monophonics channel Tower of Power, the Meters, and Booker T. and the MGs, and, they would like to remind us, Vinyl.
They don’t just appropriate the sound but the entire look: earnest-looking, baby-faced, slightly goateed boys (all are between the ages of 20 and 24) dressed up in pin-stripe and retro-inspired suits playing their little hearts out. I tried to imagine how I would feel about a bunch of balding IT-by-day guys jamming in their places - the music would be just as rousing but a certain je ne sais quoi might be missing.
But maybe not. Occasional lead vocalist Marcus Scott - possessor of a Louis Armstrong growl - is older but has energy to match the younger musicians. And that’s the thing: the mostly instrumental Monophonics are youthful in appearance and age, but it’s their youthful vigor, their liveliness, their enjoyment in performing that makes their sound so infectious.
The hard-drinking days with that boy are over. And so I decided the true litmus test of the Monophonic’s funkiness would be if they could make me dance soberly. And yep, they did.
The Monophonics play Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Sweetwater Station, 500 Magnolia, Larkspur. The cost is $10. (415) 924-6107.
The Monophonics with occasional singer Marcus Scott.
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