The album starts with the booming funk of the brass section and ear grabbing vocals by Sarah ‘Lil Shrimp’ Seminski on “Mr. Boom Boom” with classic rock n roll guitar riffs and rhythm that instantly set the bar high for the rest of the album. “Real MC” features stand out back to back solos from each brass section for a jazz infused flavor with organ chilling chords as spitting fluid vocal work starts for a modern hip hop twist. “Miz Green” brings out the funk with heavy bass notes, electronic beat bops and the sensual and powerful stylings of Seminski. The album’s title song, “Bucket Express”, gives great representation of the group with the rhythm of a locomotive that builds up the energy with hip hop melodies and spotlight work on each instrument for a funk free for all. “Boss Hogg” squeezes the juice out of that organ and serious guitar shredding proves that they are their own boss. “Can’t Get No Release” has harmonious vocals singing powerful lyrics of growth with the band providing crescendo after crescendo of soul.
The romance starts to heat up on “Get To Know You Better” with dreamy key work, hot drum work and straight forward lyrics of passion. “Fine Fly Woman” has frequent buildups with fast strumming that gets those hips swinging. The album starts to wind down with its last two tracks as “Central Ave Blues” with a big city, back alley night club kinda feel. “Vidalia” is a serious slow groove in comparison to the rest of the heart racing tracks but it stretches out Seminski’s gorgeous vocal range, making it the perfect come down to the album.
Bucket Express is easy to have on repeat and helps to forget the weight of the world with the heavy funk. Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket has an unmistakable ear for creating a fresh fusion of sound that appeals to generations across the spectrum as each track is a stand-alone piece of delight and surprise. After this past Halloween, keyboardist Brett Badolato and singer Sarah Seminski have parted ways with the band but The Bucket shall continue on with their journey of funk. There will be some big shoes to fill for sure but we hope that the Big Ol’ Dirty Bucket finds themselves somewhere in Upstate NY for the new year ahead.
Key Tracks: Bucket Express, Can’t Get No Release, Vidalia
Bucket Express is available for free streaming on Soundcloud as well as clicking here for their website plus live performances too.
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