Bad News Botanists
Indignation
Self-released
For now, forget about the bad news, and let’s talk about some good news: Seattle sextet Bad News Botanists’ new album, Indignation opens its buds this month. Following their 2017 Earshot NW recording of the year nominated release, Venomous Nightshade, saxophonist Frank Vitolo, trombonist Colin Pulkrabek, guitarist Andy Short, keyboardist Rob Homan bassist Marina Christopher, and drummer Chris Patin follow the beat of the funky drummer for a set of snappy fusion breakdowns and fine-tuned funk tunes. Vocalist, Aura Payne (from soul revival and, The Highsteppers) joins the band on this album.
The Botanists’ particular patch of the Seattle funk and fusion scene thrives with varieties of 90’s rock, contemporary groove / R&B, and of course, the fecund seedbed of the late seventies. Special selections include a tribute to Mark Sandman, named after his influential and criminally underrated group Morphine, and a somewhat introspective cover of Kenny Garrett’s “Happy People.” On the latter, Homan gives a towering saw-wave synthesizer solo over a headbanging rhythm, flowing into a particularly Sandman-esque melody. Pulkrabek’s exuberant solo on the former kicks off after a sly, harmonically inventive solo by Christopher.
The horn section nails the popping and soaring parts of the groups well wound melodies, with Vitolo throwing off a scathing solo on processed tenor on the album’s opener, bringing in elements of liberation music and digital synthesis to the driving groove. Homan also adds a layer of science fiction suspense to the genre’s usual palette of Hammond B3 swirls and glowing Fender Rhode clouds, adding a phasing drift to the ostinato figure for the closer, “An Optional Ending.”
It’s from the ground floor of the. groove that the rest of rhythm elevates, and as Christopher locks in with Short’s muted snap, Patin nails the drums at the foundation. Listen for his snare flurries on Optional Ending,” the crescendo of breaks during the solos of “Air Quality Index,” and the lickety-split boom clap of “Duck a la Funk” for reference. Though their song titles speak to the present political moment, the Botanists drum up their respective strengths with a technique that’s far from new, building their narrative from the collective. –Ian Gwin
