Dank - Get Up

Dank

​Get Up 
self-released; 2016

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Robash
​

Who doesn’t like a good drug innuendo? I know I do. And I also know most people who are into funk and jam bands would probably be into it too. As legend has it the electro-funk R&B quartet Dank was conceived in Athens, Georgia and brought up in Atlanta. Their name, if you haven’t caught on yet, is an urban adjective that means in street terms “the best shit” but for anyone un-hip to the lingo let’s just say it means “really good.”

To hear the guys from Dank tell it they describe their sound as if “[the] Jackson 5 and The Allman Brothers smoked a joint then went into the studio and laid down some tracks with Moog synthesizers.” Not only is that an amusing image, it’s not very far off from the truth. It would seem that these two influences are all over Dank’s dank debut Get Up, three songs that push up the throttle on the funky-jam band genre.

The EP opens with “Get Up” with its infectious flecks of jazzy guitars, taught ass-slaps of bass and singer Eddie Speaker’s angelic and funky high-pitched wail. As it progresses it flares into the fringes of ‘70s disco beats and takes a spin into the land of the ‘80s era synth-pop.

​This synth opens up “Bend the Time” full force making its way with the tempo of a fog rolling in before and then gives this upbeat glam rocker its backbone. Dank closes out Get Up with “Baby’s Diamond’s” which saunters open slowly with a woozy country twang. As it leisurely makes its way along it picks up long and sharp slivers of bluesy guitar hooks and is shot through with guitar and pops of dirty synths.

My feelings about Get Up, as are my feelings with most bands that I find have more of a live presence than a studio one, is that it seems like a teaser to get folks to come out and see them live where they excel. I’d wager that seeing Dank live is pretty good shit.

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