Born Agains. I envy them. I can barely choose between breakfast cereals, and they’re absolutely sold on all questions pertaining to eschatology and eternal salvation. I don’t envy their musical options though. This is the party of Michael W. Smith, Plus One, and “You’ve Got to Serve Somebody.” They even turned Dylan insufferable, a water-to-wine worthy feat (the blizzards of cocaine probably did not help). After all, Pat Robertson’s meteorological interpretations aside, Christian fanaticism isn’t known for its fostering a vibrant creative community. Good God! Born Again Funk, the latest release from the Numero Group, is the exception.
Following Soul Messages From Dimona and Good God: A Gospel Funk Hymnal, the third in the Good God Series gathers gospel acts from the greater Chicago area, united by their flush-faced fervor, angelic harmonies, and absolute funkiness. This is closer to visitations with the Reverend Cleophus James than the pasty-faced morlocks that haunt Sunday morning programming. Despite the ecclesiastical obsession, even Richard Dawkins and his sidekick Hitch couldn’t help but find an enduring beauty in these songs. They’re more affirmations and appreciations of the intangible rhythms that exist in your head on your better days. Existing at the crossroads between funk and soul, disco and gospel, the obscurities gathered here come from amateurs blessed with absurd ability, people who worked regular jobs and got together on the weekends to cut music that could hang with the most angel dust-addled Spaceship-riding funk gods. I imagine these people were insufferably dull to talk to — luckily, they knew how to sing.
Download:
MP3: T.L. Barrett – “Like A Ship”
MP3: Ada Richards – “I’m Drunk And I’m High (In the Spirit of God)”
MP3: Gospel Echoes – “Yes, God Is Real”
MP3: Golden Echoes – “Packing a Grip”
