Gnappy boasts such an energetic, infectious, groove-driven vibe that it’s easy to ignore their compositional shortcomings. On their new CD, Is This a Machine? (Bean Pie), Gnappy deliver that type of high-octane funk you’d want to hear at an outdoor festival. Drummer Kevin Pearson kicks the grooves hard and assuredly, while Marcus Cardwell jabs at it with his incisive saxophone riffs. The slashing rhythms and dissonant howls from Buck McKinney’s guitar are well balanced by Brad Bradburn’s throbbing bass lines. And while they show compelling group empathy and individual noteworthy chops, they run out of musical ideas very quickly.
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