Third Coast Kings (2012)

If you’ve watched any basketball on TV this year, you’ve probably seen your share of Blake Griffin. No crime there. He’s a pretty good basketball player and a human highlight reel. He does these monster dunks like the one he put on Kendrick Perkins that had LeBron James about ready to abdicate. Griffin’s team is winning and he appears to have a winning personality, so Madison Avenue took notice. He’s well on his way to claiming all four of the jewels in Marcee Tidwell’s (the character Regina King played in Jerry Maguire) advertising crown.

Kia has Griffin demonstrating the car’s voice commands in one spot. At one point he says “play funk,” and the stereo plays funk – or at least what the latter day Don Drapers who dreamt up this spot believe funk sounds like. If the commercial makers had wanted some music that’s as funky as a Griffin 360 slam, they couldn’t have done any better than select a track from the self-titled album from the Third Coast Kings.

The “third coast” in the band’s name refers to the Great Lakes, and this eight man outfit hails from the Detroit area. They are very, very funky. Third Coast Kings is filled with rolling and thumping bass runs, Memphis style horns, kicking drums and vocals that fuse the church and the club. Third Coast Kings is split between vocal and instrumental tracks, and that’s very good indeed because the players in this outfit cry out to be heard.

In some cases, the titles are apt descriptions of the songs. “Roughneck,” with those blaring horns amplifying the tune’s hook, give this number a gritty, almost cinematic feel. This octet uses every member in a way that is reminiscent of a jazz ensemble. Band members get the opportunity to showcase their creative abilities as individuals as well as how well they play as unit on numbers such as “Summalove” and “Spicy Brown.”

Third Coast Kings is a  worthy ambassador of deep funk. It’s definitely what my voice would ask for, or my hands would reach for, if I wanted to play some funk in my ride. Highly Recommended.

By Howard Dukes

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