Sound Experience: "Don't Fight The Feeling"

Now.  You may be thinking, “Dylan, you’re getting away from the kinda shit that we KNOW you like the most…the hard, biting, rampaging FONK.  All this sweet soul and gospel stuff is cool, sure, but, c’mon…where’s the grease?”  Fear not, friends, for I have a record to assuage your doubts.  Sound Experience was a large, horn-driven Philly group that, according to most accounts, were more known for their fiery live performances than they were for their studio abilities.  While I can certainly see how the stomping grooves here would have translated well in a live setting, the band does just fine without an audience, studio polish and all.  Their sound is something of a mix between early Kool & The Gang and pre-saccharine Philly outfits like Yellow Sunshine, and though they do try their hand at a few half-baked ballads, their strength is clearly in the heavy funk.  “Your Love Belongs To Me” is not a statement so much as it is a command, as the musicians roil, percolate and syncopate underneath the vocals.  “Step People” is, indeed, a stepper, strolling and swinging along, eventually fading into the monstrous title track, which delivers a loud, anarchic dose of funk-rock, one that has guitars, clavinet, horns and party whistles in full effect.  “Going Through The Motions” has a bit of a Latin soul feel to it, which blends with a Motown-sounding melody to make for quite an interesting track.  “You’ve Broken My Heart” has more of that same Latin-disco energy, starting with a thudding clavinet and then moving into broken-time, horn-powered weirdness, albeit with lovely group soul vocals up top.  The final track, “Devil With A Bust,” is perhaps the most well-known number, as it has provided sample fodder for many a break-starved DJ.  Forget the break, though, and listen to the tune, ‘cause it jams as hard as any funk from its era.  Synths, phased guitars and reverb-laden vocals move it along, stirring up a slinky, slithering, sinister sort of momentum, until said break allows for some breathing space.  Finally, the band comes back in, eerie harmonica and grinding funk maelstrom dissolving into a bass solo and then nothingness.  “Sound Experience” could not have been more appropriately named, as the listener will not be quite the same after this album.