Mark Pajari
The band plays out rarely these days, but their new album captures their energetic live shows.
After more than 20 years of playing together, Phat Phunktion is still selling out shows.
The only problem is the nine-piece funk band known for snappy, soulful ballads doesn’t get on stage all too often these days, usually playing here just once a year.
So, to appease their large, hometown Madison following — and other fans around the world, including many in Japan who can’t get enough of the Phunktion crew — they’ve released the next best thing to a show: a fantastic live album, recorded at a performance in October at the High Noon Saloon. And there’s even an accompanying Blu-ray disc of the show for those who want to watch as they dance along.
Called simply Live at the High Noon, the 75-minute album is the group’s fifth and their latest since 2011’s Real Life ... High Fidelity. Serving as a 20-year reunion show and celebration of a group that played countless shows at some of the city’s hottest clubs since forming in 1996, the album succeeds on a number of levels, for both longtime fans and first-time listeners.
For those familiar with the band — shall we call them “The Phunktion Phamily”? — the album plays like a best-of compilation. Some of the many standout tracks include the brass-filled, guitar-heavy grooves of “Whatcha Gonna Do,” a track about knocking the dust off an old romantic relationship, and “Eyes of Mine,” a song that showcases the band’s myriad musical talents from keyboards to sharp percussion, but also covers some heavy lyrical content about the difficulty of facing reality.
Newcomers to the Phunktion sound will be drawn to a number of songs on the tail end of the album, including an excellent cover of the Earth Wind & Fire classic “Jupiter,” as well as the band’s strongest jams, like the personification of our fair city in “Miss Madison” and “Well Run Dry,” a no-holds-barred cascading hit about the perils of party life.
The Blu-ray is also a high-quality product and will make you wish you were at the show; it will likely appeal most to those who’ve seen the horns, drummers, guitar players and other band members jam out in person.