Posted on Sun, May. 11, 2008
It's not only female vocalists who have tapped into the time-honored British tradition of selling American music back to the Yanks: There's also the Heavy, a five-piece band from Noid, England, whose electric debut
Great Vengeance and Furious Fire (Counter ***) draws from the Curtis Mayfield-Sly Stone reservoir of American soul.
The album title refers to a Samuel L. Jackson biblical-inspired speech in
Pulp Fiction. And like director Quentin Tarantino, the Heavy's front man, Kevin Swaby, has a fetish for early 1970s black pop culture, from gangster movies to music.
On the downside, that can make
Great Vengeance seems like nothing more than a slavish pastiche. It samples the voices of Harvey Keitel and Al Pacino, and on the song "Dignity" it rips off Sly Stone's "Dance to the Music" to no salutary effect.
But if the Heavy haven't yet figured out how to transcend their influences, they are focused on playfully mining a decidedly rich funk-soul vein, and when they dig in deep, as on the wild-eyed Mayfield workout "Colleen," they hit pay dirt. There are no Philadelphia-area shows scheduled, but the Heavy is playing three New York shows - in Manhattan at Royale on Monday and Rehab on Tuesday, and in Brooklyn at Union Pool on Wednesday.
- Dan DeLuca
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