For the average mortal musician, the idea of playing drums for eclectic funk megastars The Red Hot Chili Peppers would be more than sufficient. In fact who could imagine wanting to do anything else with your time? The answer: the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, that's who. Though Chad Smith, 47, has spent two decades weaving his legend as the hard hitting man on the toms behind Anthony Kiedis, he (along with his axe-wielding compadres in RHCP) has found other musical outlets to entertain himself and their fans. Smith, who has already been a member of rock-n-roll super group Chickenfoot, recently (yesterday) released an album of his latest endeavor:Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats (currently on Warrior Records). Obviously this guy knows a great band name when he hears one.
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But bombastic monikers aside, the music on the group's debut CD, aptly titled Meet the Meatbats
is actually some really solid jam band funk. It managers to avoid the
typical tendencies of sonic wankery that occur when you get musicians
together who feel like they must compensate for the fact there's no
singer in the mix. However, the talents of Smith, guitarist Jeff Kollman,
keyboardist Ed Roth and bassist Kevin Chown could rip your face off at
any moment during the course of their album. Naturally, this jam band
was first formed during prolonged jam sessions between Smith, Kollar
and Roth while on tour with former Black Sabbath bassist Glenn Hughes and they've been working out some full length tunes and doing shows since 2008.
You can definitely hear some Chili Peppers vibes circa Blood Sugar Sex Magic
on songs like “Death Match” and “Oops I Spilled My Beer”. But the good
thing is, with Roth's added keys, the band can expand seamlessly into
jazz, or blues territory at the drop of a dime. Preparing to embark on
an October Japan tour, CSBMB is sure to invite a his cult of
funk-loving followers into his new side project and fans of meaty, hard-hitting funk hybrids on this side of the world betta' recognize as well.
