The Independent in San Francisco, hosted three up-and-coming bands for a night of funk and fun on Thursday, January 11, 2024. If you’re looking to get a party started, keep it going, or make it last all night, you might want to check out Object Heavy, Boot Juice, and Litty deBungus.
Litty deBungus kicked off the evening’s festivities. This funk ensemble touts fellow Oakland natives Tower of Power as an influence, and that’s a good starting point to describe their bass-and-horns-infused soul. Santa Cruz singer Trianna Feruza shared the stage with Litty D, adding high-octane vocal fuel to the funk fire. Without catching a breath, Litty D threw down five songs from their 2023 eponymous album, closing with “She’s Got a Gun,” a raucous toe-tapper.
The middle of the funky three-band sandwich was Boot Juice, a NorCal octet from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A little Edwin Sharpe, a little Trampled by Turtles, and a Whole Lotta Caffeine, I mean Love. Paint splattered pantsuits. Americana on steroids and/or espresso. Good times a’plenty!
Boot Juice jumped and jived with a hint of jazz and a bit of bluegrass, shaking their hips and everything else with Cali-Texan swing beats and oodles of youthful swagger. If they had iPhones in their pockets during this set, they each got in way more than 10,000 steps by the end of their 60-minute set. These Boots got Juice.
And dang it, the music is good! It’s fun, it’ll make you groove, and you’ll go nuts if you stop dancing long enough to try to figure out if it’s country, R&B, frenetic folk – or just a bunch of crazy kids who stayed up all night listening to mash-ups of Squirrel Nut Zippers and James Brown before deciding to start a band.
No dead bodies, just a lot of sweat and smiles. Bonus points for the matching coveralls and also for covering Jefferson Airplane’s first-album deep cut “High Flyin' Bird.” Joe-Bob says check it out.
Object Heavy hails from Arcata, a small town on the northern coast of California. Their sound is Heavy (hence, the name?). They’ve got the funk. They’ve got soul. They’ve got a well-polished groove.
Aptly named vocalist Richard Love glides effortlessly between tenor verses, falsetto choruses, and raise-the-roof screams of passion. A few songs in, he belts out “I Put a Spell on You” as powerfully as anyone who’s ever tried to put a spell on anyone. This is No-Foolin’-Around Time, and the shit gets real.
The quartet that gives up the funk for Mr. Love to groove on is top-notch. Brian Swislow (keys), Leo Plummer (guitar) take turns on crafty solos when they’re not ch-chuck-ch-chucking classic funk rhythms. Drummer Dan Weiss doesn’t miss a beat, nor a backbeat for that matter.
The secret weapon in the Object Heavy arsenal is Ian Taylor. His pulse is rock steady – and man, can that cat lay down a solo! If the heart of a funk band is at the bottom, these guys have a big-ass bottom. (Is he the Object that is so Heavy?) During the guitar solo on “Sunshine,” a brand-new Object Heavy song, Taylor’s fingers were flying as fast as Plummer’s pick.
Three fun bands, lots of funk beats, and a good crowd eating it all up. Who can ask for more?
Check ‘em out:
Litty deBungus: https://littyd.com/
Boot Juice: https://www.bootjuicejams.com/
Object Heavy: https://objectheavymusic.com/
