[MINIMAL ELECTRO-FUNK] When you get two musicians as
talented as keyboardist Ben Darwish (Commotion, Ben Darwish Trio,
recent Shook Twins collaboration) and drummer
Drew Shoals (Dan Balmer, Tony Furtado) together, the temptation is for
them to show off to one another. Which is why their debut as Duo Denim
surprises: Beautifully played, to be sure, the Heat Rocks Vol. 1 EP is far more interested in clean instrumental songwriting and melodic clarity than it is in showing off.
Maybe it’s the
intimate nature of the combo that keeps them in line: After all,
elongated solos from either player (there are no solos taken on the
five-song EP) would just seem a little bit indulgent. So instead,
Darwish and Shoals focus on making atmospheric, genreless tunes that
feel inspired by vintage funk, ’70s soundtracks, math rock and video
games. What do you call this stuff? I don’t know. Each song is its own
little universe. But each song works.
“Purple Drank” is
almost as gangsta as it sounds, a vaguely threatening and decidedly West
Coast hip-hop instrumental that occasionally breaks into a dirty funk
groove. “Let It Pass” has the bounce-along vibe and melodic simplicity
of Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown tunes, with Shoals’ drumming ever on
the edge of explosion. “Don’t Say Namaste” is soulful but distant—it
feels like an elegy for someone the duo respected but never actually
met, and it’s the loosest, most rocking song in the collection.
But
it’s closers “Spud Webb” and “P-Town Rivals” that get really
interesting, if only because the songs seem more a product of Portland’s
indie-rock scene than something two jazz-bred players would dream up.
Both tunes retain a dose of swing, but Starfucker fans could make
perfect sense of this stuff. Hell, Starfucker fans could even dance to
it. So where does Duo Denim fit into the Portland music scene? Eh, just
file it in the “great music” category.
SEE IT: Duo Denim plays Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., on Thursday, Dec. 29, with Reva DeVito and Luck-One. 8:30 pm. $8. 21+. Get the EP for free at duodenim.bandcamp.com.
