Search - Limbomaniacs :: Stinky Grooves

Musically excellent, lyrically juvenile

03/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Musically this album is a beautiful, unusual, funky, intense creation. The guest appearances from big funk names fit in incredibly well, not to mention Bill Laswell having left his production mark. Many sources characterize this band as having a promenant "heavy metal" component and I'm not sure I'd really agree with that. While some of their tracks are too heavy to be "strict" funk, I think most metal fans would not gravitate to this album. Despite its musical genius, the lyrics on this album are downright juvenile. One need not use *too* much imagination to figure out songs like "Butt Funkin'" or "The Toilet's Flooded." I guess there's relief in knowing that even the band doesnt take it too seriously: at the beginning of "The Toilet's Flooded" it sounds as if one of the band members sarcastically quips "We're mighty young to write such heavy lyrics."If you dig P-funk or the Chili Peppers, have a soft spot for the rock sounds of the early 90's, and don't look to lyrics for philosophical inspiration, this album could be the diamond in the rough you're looking for."

3 and a half stars. Frat-boy funk from the early '90's.

Kevin Rienecker | Portland, OR USA | 08/11/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Limbomaniacs. Oh, yeah. I remember them. One of the Bay area punk/funk bands of the early '90's, a-la Primus, but with more of a low-brow, partying, frat-boy feel. Listening to Stinky Grooves a decade down the road, I've got to say that there ain't a bad cut on the whole album. 'Butt Funkin' & 'Shake It' are favs, and the bits with Bootsy Collins and the Bill Laswell production shouldn't be missed.



Hefty props. If you dig the early 'Chili Peppers - hell, if you like your rock music heavily funk influenced, check this one out. Mirv could out white-boy rap Anthony any day, and musically, the band was as good or better than anybody - I saw them live opening for Lenny Kravitz; the Limbo's played to an almost empty house, and they still blew Kravitz away. The only reason these guys never made it big, far as I can see, is the limited fan base for the goofy, juvenille lyrics. Most people grow up and away from stuff like this - even the 'Chili's had to expand their musical horizons, or they'd be stuck playing crummy college gigs like the poor, poor ganja-addled remains of what was once the tightest band in the land, Fishbone.



Or just gone - poof! - after one solid album, like the Limbomaniacs."