Assembled by members from New Orleans and Brooklyn, Pimps Of Joytime takes influences from both those locations on their third album. They construct electronic dance music mixed with funk, rock, and blues where icons like Ivan Neville (of The Neville Brothers fame) and members of the cult heroes Rubblebucket make appearances.
A fun, energetic, and sweaty listen, Jukestone Paradise warrants being played loud anywhere and everywhere that people congregate with the intention of moving their bodies in some rhythmic pattern. “Red Golden” starts the album off with explosive blues and pop that’s lively, full and serves as a great indicator of what’s in store. Following this is a tune co-written by Alex Toth of Rubblebucket that tosses frontman Brian J’s vibrant falsetto against a strong funk groove. This groove extends into “Waiting For My Ride,” and further on “Heart Is Wild” cranks up the funk factor another notch.
The second contribution comes from the legendary Ivan Neville, who brings the New Orleans atmosphere with the spiritual and piano heavy “Sky.” Following this, the musicianship gets even more diverse with the blues meets electronica of “The Jump” and the harmonicas and layered ’70s rock approach to “Dark Janky.”
There’s no denying that artists like Michael Jackson, Prince, Sly & The Family Stone, and James Brown are enormous influences for Pimps Of Joytime. The sounds of disco, soul, electronic dance music and countless other genres are subtly mixed in and in other cases not too subtly injected. Jukestone Paradise apparently took two years to make, a long time by any standard, but when you listen to the detail of each track and the fact that each tune follows a unique path, it’s understandable.
If you’re someone who just can’t find interest in today’s DJ scene but enjoys dance music, this album was made for you.
