The third album from Tweed Funk finds the Milwaukee ensemble moving from the blues that informed previous efforts to a full-on funkiness that could be mistaken for the soundtrack of a lost ’70s blaxploitation movie. When they aren’t getting all up in it like a pimpadelic Meters with rubbery bass lines, rumbling congas and emphatic brass, they pay effective homage to their stylistic forebears (most anyone can cite Motown Records as an influence, but Curtom?—niiice!) and come on like Donny Hathaway having a dark night of the soul.
Female background singers add dollops of sass on about half of Come Together. And while lead vocalist Joseph “Smokey” Holman may not be the most profoundly gut-wrenching of R&B serenaders, his stylings sound sincere when paying homage to the music dominating black radio during the LBJ and Nixon administrations. The overall effect is of fun that’s not overbearingly retro, and reason to Come Together with what Tweed Funk is throwing down.
