Cyclic Defrost

There’s something incredibly lively yet smooth about Super Cool California Soul. Taking in northern soul, disco, funk, and soul jazz, the music on this compilation is an over the top joy, stabbing horns, sleazy free-floating bass lines and larger than life characters. Spanky Wilson in particular offers a gritty rags to riches tale, told via incredibly funky guitar and honky-tonk piano. Her rich vocals though are the key to ‘Fancy’, and there’s this priceless moment where everything falls away except the bass and drums, “What’s my name y’all,” she drawls, “Fancy” scream a chorus of backup singers, “what’s my name,” “Fancy.” It’s killer in a very Dusty Springfield kind of way.

The other stand out moment is also their weirdest, Rodney Trotter’s ‘Space Nigga’. Firmly in P-Funk territory, Trotter believes he has descended to earth to eradicate the use of the ‘n’ word. He does this with helium inhaled vocals and back up singers breathlessly intoning “spaceman” under his nonsensical funked up proclamations. It’s a really interesting collection, with many of the artists relatively unknown, often side players to bigger artists such as Fela Kuti, George Clinton, Funkadelic and War. There’s also a misconception that much of this music is just about smooth grooves and a good time. What becomes apparent in this collection, recorded between 1966 and ’82, is the musicians’ desire to incorporate both social and political ideas into their lyrics. The opener and the closer, two different versions of the soul jazz, funk call to arms ‘Compared To What’ from Gow Dow Experience, is a prime example. “Say the president,” they offer scornfully over an urgent bustling bassline, “he’s got his war, folks just don’t know what it’s for, no one gives us rhyme or reason, you have one doubt they call it treason.” Sounds a little too close to home.

Bob Baker Fish

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