The Sherpas: Fuck YES, Funk NO | True Currency
I’m going to address one of the biggest problems in the music industry right now: Musical misidentification.
If I hear one more garage rock band calling themselves psychedelic, I will simply have no choice but to vomit everywhere. My beef really isn’t with The Sherpas, who have little to possibly no control on how they’re marketed by the music industry and its media. Actually, I have no beef at all. I don’t want to instigate turf wars with twerpy little bloggers who talk about obscure Jesus Mary Chain references and write long-winded articles for Pitchfork. No thaaaaank you. I guess the only reason I bring up Musical Misidentification (I’m coining that. You read it here first, fuckers) is because this is what The New Lo Fi blog has to say about UK band, The Sherpas:
“There’s been a bit of a funk rebirth in the UK as of late, and the Sherpas are one the bands leading us up the mountain of funkadelic, 70′s/80′s infused alt-rock.”
Maybe there has been a funk rebirth in the UK, I have no idea. But I gotta be honest, I put on The Sherpas latest single, Six Steps, and yeah, they had a bit of a funky bass line. But I sure as hell wouldn’t use the word FUNKADELIC when writing about them. In fact, that irks me a little bit. You know what I think about when I hear the word FUNKADELIC? I think about fuckin Funkadelic. I think, “FREE YOUR MIND AND YOUR ASS WILL FOLLOW.” I definitely do not think about The Sherpas. And that isn’t The Sherpas’ fault! Guys, you’re great! The vocalist is like a fresh take on Morrisey. I put on their song Wave to the Water, and really, really liked it. It was heavy, it was dreamy, it was beautiful. Was it funk? Fuck no.
When I want a good dose of funk, I go get me some Curtis Mayfield, know what I’m sayin’? I go put on some Superfly. How about that track Have a Talk with God by Stevie Wonder. Can I get a little Prince! And do I really even need to mention James Brown? Please. New Lo Fi Blog, you got it all wrong, man! Alright, alright, those are not innovative, modern funk players bringing something new to the table. I get it. But neither are The Sherpas. You know what? Put on The Sherpas. I highly recommend it. If you dig bands like The Smiths or Alt J, then you’ll really enjoy the vibe of The Sherpas. But if you’re actually after some modern funk bands that are actually funky as opposed to poppy and rock, then check out Album of The Year’s list of Best Funk albums of 2013.
And if you’re looking to be misguided and mislead by their absolutely incorrect musical identification, then keep reading New Lo Fi Blog.
Listen to The Sherpas!
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