The Quietus

In the last several years, Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner has proven himself an invaluable player in LA's genre-busting musical ferment, lending his gleefully showy bass playing to everyone from Erykah Badu to Suicidal Tendencies to his tight bro/regular collaborator Flying Lotus. He's a remarkably dextrous player, somehow angular and liquid at once, a shameless callback to Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke even as his stage presence more closely recalls that of Bootsy Collins. He also has a goofy, absurdist sense of humour, as evidenced by collaborations with Eric Andre that are among both of their best work.

On Drunk, Thundercat aggressively grafts said humour onto his spacy throwback fusion r&b, and the results are mixed. The tradition of blending formidable chops with sophomoric jokes is a venerated one, stretching back at least as far as the deft-yet-filthy blues double entendres of Bo Carter, but the shoe which fits most closely here is that oft-acknowledged joke music touchstone, Frank Zappa: Bruner's frothy melodies and slick, slippery runs would fit right in on Sheik Yerbouti, and his poker-faced, soulful delivery of lyrics about masturbating and eating sushi fit squarely into the same snarky teenage boy zone.

The jokes will likely play well to that sizable chunk of Thundercat's base, but when it's at its best, the humour on Drunk takes a back seat to melodic invention. Bruner's voice is a soft, keening thing even when his lyrics are silly, making songs like 'Blackkk' and fan favorite 'Them Changes' sound as tender and languid as they are musically busy. Much will be made of the fact that Thundercat managed to pull cognac-rock geezers Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins onto the single 'Let Me Show You', but this would ultimately be of little note if the track weren't actually strong.

Still, at its low points (most notably the MRA-friendly 'Friend Zone'), the jokes jump to the forefront to the music's detriment. If it's your kind of humour, then maybe you're in for an ephemeral treat, but it's otherwise guaranteed to distract. Humour is weird that way, especially in music: nothing wrong with sprinkling your jams with yuks, of course, but what's left when the novelty value wears off?

Perhaps none of this would even be an issue were there more pathos behind the jokes. Earlier Thundercat cut "Tron Song", an ode to a lost cat, managed to be funny with feeling; it reaches deep and feels personal, without taking itself too seriously. There's little here that pulls off that feat. Drunk seems to just skim the surface of Bruner's sense of humour, as if the lyrics were dashed off last-minute over a couple bong rips.

Whatever. Thundercat is clearly having a good time, which I'm sure is a welcome reprieve after the decidedly heavier vibes of 2013's grieving Apocalypse. Good on him. If your sense of humour is roughly in line with his, you too will probably walk away reasonably satisfied. Anyone who's been impressed by Thundercat's freaked deftness in more emotionally nuanced contexts, however, will likely find themselves nonplussed.

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There has never been any doubt over his musical ability, ever since his wider introduction to the hip-hop/indie/electronic music conscious with his work on Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Parts One and Two and Flying Lotus' Cosmogramma, in 2008 and 2010 respectivelyt. Even his prior work in the jokey yet supremely talented pop-punk band Suicidal Tendencies throughout the Noughties wouldn't surprise anyone aware of his talents what he was capable of.

As a solo artist, however, it has been a slow build for Bruner. His first two solo albums The Golden Age of Apocalypse (2011) and Apocalypse (2013) saw Bruner unleash his psychedelic jazz stylings improve over the course of what could easily be conceived as a double album which got more confident as he progressed but not always so consistent. Both albums showed Bruner's potential and knack to blend a beautiful melody with his incredibly complex playing style without being overbearing, such as the still breathtaking 'Heartbreaks + Setbacks' from Apocalypse. Similarly, while his albums dealt with some personal anguish - the latter ends with a beautiful ode to his recently deceased friend and musical compadre, Austin Peralta - he also showed his keen sense for not always being deadly serious, allowing his dark sense of humour to prevail on tracks such as his disco-party jam 'Oh Sheit it's X'.

However, in the interim, it seemed Bruner had got serious. 2014 onwards saw an incredible run of form for the enigmatic bassist, working on (in order): Flying Lotus - You're Dead!, Kamasi Washington - The Epic - and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly for which he received a Grammy. Meanwhile, Thundercat released by far his most consistent and serious work, his 15-minute mini-album The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam working with Jazz legend Herbie Hancock in the process. As well as being a critical and artistic success, the record also scored Thundercat's biggest single to date 'Them Changes'.

So understandably, there is now some hype surrounding his first proper solo album in nearly four years. At first, Drunk is quite disorientating, given Bruner has very much reconnected with that sense of humour. When opening (and closing) segment 'Rabbot Ho' (later 'DUI') segues into the first proper song 'Captain Stupido' we get a picture going Bruner going through everyday, mundane life in a with a sense of "feeling weird" - with a title giving you everything you need to know. Then, before you can catch your breath, Bruner runs through Jazz-Fusion jam 'Uh Uh' on to Phil Spector-esque 60s Motown number 'Bus in These Streets' all in the space of the album's opening 6 minutes.

Once the album calms into Thundercat's trademark groove in 'A Fan's Mail (Tron Song Suite II)' - a song in which, between meows, Bruner wishes he was a cat, no really - it's fairly obvious this isn't going to be your straightforward listen. Over the course of 50-minutes and 23 tracks (though only a handful gets over the three-minute mark) Bruner is leading us into the dark psyche of his mind. After a little while, one realises to pay attention to the album's title - something Bruner has confirmed in interviews - this is an album about the many strange facets of being intoxicated.

This isn't the first time Thundercat has sung about this, aforementioned 'Oh Sheit it's X' is a prime example, but after this disorientating journey, we realise this is now Bruner's way of giving himself the freedom to sing about whatever he feels. For instance, 'Lava Lamp' is an absolutely gorgeous, heartbreaking R&B track akin to to the great 'Heartbreaks + Setbacks', while next track 'Jethro' sees him consider his mortality in one of the record's standouts, but coming straight after a track about yearning to be a feline, it takes a little time to get used to Bruner's sense of humour. Part of the thrill of 'Drunk' is never really knowing where Bruner is going to take us next, whether it is exploring the streets of Tokyo or concerns about racial profiling, Bruner has managed to find the balance between the absurd and the dramatic in a balance he's never quite mastered until now.

Equally important is that Thundercat is no longer the solitary voice of the album (though he is the majority of it). For instance, Bruner gets to work with two of his cited 'greatest influences and heroes' in Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins on the first single 'Let Me Show You' in a classic soul-filled ode to his musical heritage. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and Pharrell Williams all drop in to make sporadic appearances and while none really bring their A game, they are all necessary breaks in amongst Bruner's longest record to date and show how hip-hop has also become more of an influence this time around.

Not everything works here, the final third sags a little, but then how could it not on a record of this size and scope? There are some throwaway moments here and there, but none outstay their welcome given many of these tracks are short sketches. Strangely enough, the biggest surprise and almost disappointment is to find 'Them Changes' lodged deep into the album right after the excellent current single 'Friend Zone' - a song which largely sums up Bruner's myriad modes and thoughts across this record. Of course, 'Them Changes' is an excellent song, arguably one of Bruner's best to date, but it's questionable if this two-year-old song really needed to feature on this hugely wild and ambitious album - other than perhaps the cynical reason of getting Kamasi Washington's name onto the record - and feels ever so slightly out of place here.

However, this is a minor quibble given the album's strengths. Altogether, despite being maddeningly silly in places, the humour is always dark and tied or paired with personal, moving moments which keeps Drunk (just about) grounded. Bruner/Thundercat has tamed (to some extent at least) his scope and ambition through his various influences and thoughts to make his third full-length album a joyful, crazy, substance-fuelled epic in an area where most of his contemporaries would take themselves endlessly seriously. Here, Bruner has harnessed all that into maybe his best record yet.

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Thundercat gives himself a pep talk at the beginning of Drunk: “Comb your beard, brush your teeth … beat your meat, go to sleep.” At least he’s in marginally better spirits these days. Following the death of his friend and collaborator Austin Peralta, his last two releases—2013’s Apocalypse and 2015’s The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam—explored the concept of extinction and what the spirit might endure when the body expires. On these records—along with Flying Lotus’ 2014 album You’re Dead!, where Thundercat contributed bass or vocals to many of its songs—the singer and preeminent bassist (born Stephen Bruner) tried to make sense of a devastating truth. Peralta was gone, and one day, he will be gone too.

All this cosmic morbidity leaned on Thundercat’s music, which takes on many forms all at once: ’70s funk, R&B, punk with tinges of fusion. His art is undeniably black, yet the structures are loose enough to pull in all sorts of listeners. It speaks to those who love soul and ska equally, those who spazz just the same when George Duke or Bad Brains flash across the iPod. Thundercat is equal parts Nintendo generation, ’60s flower child, and hardcore skater bro. His live show is punk as hell; serene studio tracks are given loud, frenetic makeovers. On top of all that rests Thundercat’s smooth falsetto, a transcendent voice that can usher you into some sort of demise (“Descent Into Madness”), sing lovingly to his pet cat (“Tron Song”), or make drugs seem perfectly fine (“DMT Song,” “Oh Sheit It’s X.”).

If Thundercat’s recent work focused on the uncertainty of death, Drunk confronts the challenge of just trying to live life. It’s a marathon through the mind of Bruner that uses his casually humorous and honest songwriting to detail that which is cool and that which sucks. Cool? Kenny Loggins and Dragon Ball Z wrist-slap bracelets. Sucks? Friend zones and the police state. Featuring Kendrick Lamar (“Walk on By”), Wiz Khalifa (“Drink Dat”) and Kamasi Washington (“Them Changes”) among others, Drunk plays like an anxious stoner album, the aural equivalent of late-night channel surfing. Its 23 tracks present a fluid narrative that begins on a somewhat bright note and gradually fades into darkness—a concept record that takes you through a bleary night of drinking, drugs, funk, and heartbreak with Thundercat himself.

He is whimsical and somber, funny and meaningful, sometimes all at once. Each song hovers around the two-minute mark, defying those ‘70s fusion forebears whose tracks could drag on over dense harmonies and time signatures. Drunk hits all the melodic and emotional themes Thundercat aims for without belaboring the point. On openers “Rabbot Ho” and “Captain Stupido,” he comes off a bit goofy and red-eyed, leaving his wallet at the club after a night of partying. “Bus in These Streets,” which resembles the theme of 1980s children show “The Great Space Coaster,” uses a sarcastic nursery rhyme flow to chide our collective social media dependence (“Thank God for technology ‘cause where would we be if we couldn't tweet our thoughts,” Thundercat quips). “Jameel’s Space Ride,” a transitional song near the album’s end, uses a chiptune-inspired beat while he sings of the struggle between minorities and law enforcement: “I’m safe on my block, except for the cops/Will they attack, would it be ‘cause I’m black?” This, of course, is after he literally meows about how cool it must be to be a cat.

All this oddball soul feels more anchored to Thundercat's humanity than his previous releases. We see him here as both a heartbroken insomniac, someone who looks at the world alongside Pharrell on “The Turn Down” and wonders if “everything we do is weak,” and a juvenile jazzbo who wants to “blow all [his] cash on anime.” Much like The Golden Age of Apocalypse and Apocalypse, which leapfrogged several different genres with dizzying results, he’s able to keep it all together, offering a puzzling ride that feels coherent despite its moving parts. Unlike his past work, which put his musicianship on great display, Drunk presents the defining picture of Thundercat as a person: quirky, political, thoughtful, weird—and sometimes drunk. These descriptors aren’t surprising if you follow him on Twitter, but here, Thundercat comes off like the guy who you can hit up at the bar and riff on pretty much anything. Given all he’s gone through personally, it’s an honor to hear Thundercat feeling like himself again.

The Guardian 80

(Brainfeeder)

Grammy award-winning bassist and singer Thundercat is joined by Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams, Kamasi Washington, Wiz Khalifa, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins on his third full-length album. Over this 23-track epic, Thundercat weaves emotional yet darkly humorous tales of alcohol dependency and heartbreak through mesmeric bass improvisations and soft vocal harmonies. There are many funk-fuelled highlights, including Them Changes, taken from his 2015 release The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam, and the catchy Friend Zone: “Don’t call me, don’t text me, after 2am/ Unless you plan on giving me some”. The tracklist could stand a little pruning, but Thundercat’s virtuoso bass playing and impressive cast of collaborators make it an early standout of 2017.

The Guardian 80

(Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune)

Now that sun-squelched jazz is having a mainstream moment – thanks in part to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly – Flying Lotus’s cosmic sidekick sets out his stall in vivid high-definition. Thundercat’s 23-track third album, Drunk, takes you down a rabbit hole and turfs you out in his lopsided wonderland of funk, soul, hip-hop and soft rock, with guest characters including Lamar, Pharrell, saxophonist Kamasi Washington and Wiz Khalifa. It’s an eccentric, surreal and oddly hypnotic listen – most of it, he has said, inspired by the times he’s been less than sober.

The result is restless, like flipping through a graphic novel. Friend Zone is a gorgeous pearl of groove, with hints of underwater funk not unlike Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s; Lamar’s track Walk on By sounds like the sombre result of knocking back a vial of something lurid. The soft rock touches, meanwhile, are a masterstroke. Them Changes pairs elastic, syrupy bass with a perky falsetto featheriness inspired by Kenny Loggins and the Doobie Brothers. And Thundercat brings the former together with the latter’s Michael McDonald on Let Me Show You, drawing a firm line between their 70s LA sound and his own scene’s latter-day efforts. “We young black Hollywood,” raps Khalifa on Drink Dat – and this is its cinematic stoner soundtrack.

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Thundercat
Drunk

[Brainfeeder; 2017]

Rating: 3/5