Art funk, post-punk, no wave, disco punk, rap or the world's first hip-hop band? This is a revised (re)issue of ESG's "Best of" compilation. ESG is a late 1970s/early 1980s, all-female band of seminal cred. Four sisters (the Scroggins sisters) from South Bronx created a uniquely stripped down, but yet rhythm-fueled sound as if they were distilling Jame Brown's funk elements down to their most core essence: heavy percussion, syncopated beats, funky guitar/bass lines, bratty vocalisms and hollering. If minimalism (dub/no-wave) was the medium of distillation, the end effect was a dance music that carried the flavor of NYC's 1980s disco scene, while its repetitive elements (think of early electronic game music) were laying down the foundation for the evolution of dance music into its more industrial-sounding house/techno phases. Dig it! So addictive... like a bad 1980s drug. Play with Bush Tetras, Salt-N-Peppa, Liquid, Liquid, Funkadelic, PIL, A Certain Ratio, the Slits.
Play: 12, 4, 2, 10, 9, 6
1. Sparce 80s dance. Cow-bells, hand-claps. Heavily percussive.
2. Electronic groove, acid guitars, and heavy NYC/Bronx vocal accents and attitude. About erasing all the men dogs.
3. Sparsely dancy with trippy guitar solos. Funky guit lines.
4. Fast, dancy-upbeat. Hand claps. Bass driving riffature on melody. Think James Brown. Great shit.
5. Dissonant synth lines/funk guitars.
6. Their classic hit. Slow and synister. Just vocals and percussion. No strings. "You're no good".
7. Funky guitar lines are driving! Stripped down, sparse rhythm.
8. Heavy beats and percussion. Dub!
9. Post-punk! Sparse industrial percussion filled in by bass/guitar lines deprived of melody. Noise and minimalistic lyrics.
10. Guitar-driven/dominated. Nice bass lines. Sexual hollering.
11. Sparse house/techno, electro-dance vocals and beats. Funky guitar lines sampled in. Perfect for JC's show.
12. Fucken track blows my mind. Fast paced with heavy beats and groove. Acid funk guitar (Bootsy Collins anyone?). Yeah! A-ha! "Pick me up a six-pack"!