This studio effort is a culmination of over 10 years of writing and playing music together. It was produced by Ben Kaplan, who has worked with such musical acts as Rise Against, Mother Mother and Biffy Clyro.Their CD opens with “Widowmaker” and it is followed by the upbeat “Ddpp” and smooth title track tune “Sweat.”
“Capital City” has a neat groove to it, and “Ill Wind” has strong melodies. “Iceberg” is a track that was made for big band, while “Freight Train” is more uptempo and aggressive. “Power of Funk” is a song that the fans can dance and sing along to and “Humans” is sassy and fun. “Gods (May the Funk Be With You)” has a horn section to it, and their album closes with “Hot Damn” and “10,000 Scarabs.”
The band is made up of Tayo Branston on drums and vocals, Gabe Boothroyd on guitar, Oliver Gibson on guitar, Jason Smith on bass, Thomas Towers on congas, Carl Julig on timbales, Eli Bennett on saxophone and Kent Wallace on trumpet.
The Verdict
Overall, Five Alarm Funk is back with a highly diverse album, Sweat. It garners four out of five stars.
Their music is available on Spotify and on Amazon’s official website.
To learn more about Five Alarm Funk, check them out on Facebook.
