KRAAK & SMAAK
Boogie Angst
Quango
· Dutch bunch’s debut deals the dope shit to bump junkies and beat addicts.
This trio has been burnin’ up the club and festival scene in Europe over the last year or so to much critical acclaim, and for good reason. Nailing the many strains of modern rhythmic motifs they pull together, from deep bossa vibes to straight-up sunny house, Boogie Angst is a veritable manual on how to replicate, or even replace, the DJ experience with a live band.
Succeeding with the live-combo-plus-samples set-up where many others have fallen short, Kraak & Smaak’s stash of pulsating afrolatin-flavoured funkin’ beats peppered with perfectly-placed flourishes of instrumentation maintains its momentum while taking you on an energetic journey through the 21st century clubland experience. Highlights are too numerous to catalogue but good starting points are "Money in the Bag" (a bass-slappin’, chikka-chikka chase-scene funkster kicked into overdrive with big acid bottom end and squealin’ ’80s synthlines), or "Say Yeah" (with its driving afrobeat infused with gospelly goodness).
Whether it be laid-back listenin’ in the lounge or booty-shakin’ in the ballroom, this effort will comfortably fill whatever shoes you’re wearing at the time. Good touchstones would be the Pork roster circa mid-’90s or the current Nordic jazz-funk electro scene, but with less chin-strokin’ noodling and more foot-movin’ phatness. Heavy on the "boogie" and short on the "angst," this rock-solid debut is sure to satisfy all those who sample its wares, be they jaded veteran clubbers or casual listeners of the genre.
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