It’s been a busy 2018 for The Du-Rites. With a 7” single (“Gamma Ray Funk” b/w “Fish Sammich”), a film score (Bobbito Garcia’s Rock, Rubber, 45s) and the theme song for the aforementioned film - a collaboration with giants like Eddie Palmieri, Robert Glasper and DJ Rob Swift - under their belt, there’s still a ton of funkin’ left for the NYC duo to do. Their third LP, 70s’ TV cop show musical score titled Gamma Ray Jones, is slated for the fall, and this offering is a foreshadowing of the album’s back alley funk.
“The Mean Machine” is a mid-tempo groover drenched in Zone’s syncopated, slop sink drums and Pablo’s gritty fuzz guitars, setting the tone for Gamma Ray Jones’ inner city private detective funk. The flip side - the slicker but no less nasty “Corinthian Leather” - is more pimp strut than rhythmic assault, with guest bassist, Time Wolf (who holds down the rhythm section with J-Zone in Colemine Records recording artist Ben Pirani’s band), sliding, gliding and cascading on the fretboard with a looseness that has roots in Motown, Barney Miller theme and P-Funk all at the same time. With Pablo jumping from chicken scratch to distortion, the trio lay the perfect sonic canvas for humorous banter about a 1978 Chrysler and it’s ostentatious interior. In typical Du-Rites fashion, the duo’s response to constant requests to add a vocalist was to offer even more ridiculous dialogue between two of J-Zone’s alter egos, taking the tongue-in-cheek vocal concept from the last single’s b-side, “Fish Sammich,” one step further into the absurd.
Like “Fish Sammich,” “Corinthian Leather” is not on the Gamma Ray Jones LP and will exist on wax only as a 7” b-side. Get it before it’s gone!
| A | The Mean Machine | 2:27 |
| B | Corinthian Leather | 2:54 |
