George Clinton & HisGangsters Of Love - George Clinton & HisGangsters Of Love

Apalling covers album from one of funk’s true originals

One glance at the sleeve and it’s all too clear that the Atomic Dog is stuck in some late 80s/ early 90s nadir. Against the odds, 2005’s How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent saw funk’s most blown mind return to some sort of form with the help of a bunch of past alumni and the likes of Prince. If an overstuffed double-album, it was at least listenable.

…Gangsters Of Love sees guests such as Santana and the Chili Peppers carry a lacklustre Clinton on a bunch of old soul covers. He even chucks in a Latino swerve with Sway, a Top 20 hit for Dean Martin in 1954. They’re the sort of songs Clinton would have listened to when leading his doo wop Parliaments, or maybe even written during his time as a Motown cog.

A homage to past influences, it doesn’t help that this sounds as though it were recorded in a student’s bedroom on GarageBand. Clinton’s hoary, barely-there presence is writ large on Ain’t That Peculiar. “That’s all I can do right now,” he croaks before limping to the end; Sly Stone’s presence on this one is indistinguishable. Try and catch Clinton’s live show instead and pray that Bernie Worrell’s with him.

Shanachie | SHANCD 5165

Reviewed by Jason Draper
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