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Record review: P-Hex ‘Quantum Funkanics’

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P-HEX
QUANTUM FUNKANICS [King Genius Records]

Fuck me, these lot like a good swear, don’t they?

Northampton’s baggy-funk conglomerate first emerged from in a basement in the early 1990s, but have never until this point saw fit to release an album – instead knocking up demos as they went along. The band, formed by Steve Gordon and Paul Chant under their previous monikor Hex, have always been that less common thing, a purely live band. But once it became clear that Chant was terminally ill, it was felt by all that a full album would be a great tribute to the bassist.

The musical stylings on Quantum Funkanics are a mix of classic ’70s funk, late ’80s dance culture/hip-hop, lashings of ’90s baggy, and a little bit of the Big Beat too. Black Grape is probably the most relevant band comparison to make, but there’s also traces of Talking Heads, Parliament, Big Audio Dynamite, and Pop Will Eat Itself present too.

A lot of the fun, the heart and soul of this album comes from the duel vocal attack of Lindsay Spence [the verses, the raps] and Katie Paton [the choruses/refrains]. Between them they provide a succession of one-liners that either make you think a little deeper, or just elicit a belly laugh. Not knowing which comes next is surely a significant part of the appeal. Twenty plays in and new phrases rear up that previously were missed. Indeed everywhere there’s diamonds to fill your new boots with. Stories of wasters and scoundrels doing their thing could be deemed ‘cartoon-esque’ – but this is Northampton, so most of it is probably true anyway.

And if the words of your scribe weren’t enough to have you heading to purchase, be aware that Alan Moore loves them and wrote the liner notes. And if his nibs is onboard the mothership then you should be too, pronto.

Phil Moore

Quantum Funkanics is out now here

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