After a year of preparations, Future Vintage (Matt Giancola, Trevor McDannel and Eric Layana) is ready to present a debut LP, Doin It Right, that showcases instrumental grooves influenced by both modern and retro sounds.
We hear Daft Punk in the Pinellas trio’s use of samples, acoustic and electro drums, and vocoder and talkbox passages in place of traditional vocals, but there’s also clear inspiration from the electro-funk stylings of Future Shock-era Herbie Hancock. The resulting concoction of space-faring funk is all their own, however, built on zipping and whizzing keys, lowend that changes in texture and tone, from fuzzy to elastic rubbery to robo-synthy, and a firm rhythmic backbone pushing out beats made to keep the bodies moving. Future Vintage proves they are, indeed, doing it right and shine brightest when they deliver it tight, to the point and without too much polish, somewhere between “Interlude” — a minute-and-a-half of staccato pulses and hissing high-hats — and “Body,” which stretches past nine minutes with creamy sax accompaniment.
Critics’ Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
