New Orleans funkmeisters Galactic mix acid jazz, Crescent City funk, swing and R&B into a highly danceable concoction on “Crazyhorse Mongoose.”
“Hamp’s Hump,” the album’s opener, shimmies with a stop-and-go horn riff, while “Witch Doctor” mixes some slinky jazz guitar with a Stax saxophone. Although most of the songs are instrumentals, band member Theryl de Clouet sings on three songs, including “Love on the Run,” which features a wicked gurgling synthesizer.
While Galactic’s influences can be heard throughout — Booker T. & the MG’s, Edgar Winter and Miles Davis all figure prominently — the band easily melds them into its own unique sound. Galactic is the best time you’ll ever have outside of the French Quarter.
This article appears in Jan 13-19, 1999.