Detroit City Council: Party Planet Rising
Acid Jazz
by Gary Blackwell
Through live performances, The Detroit City Council seems to have done a decent enough job of slowly building a reputation as a modern-day, fun-filled, no-frills predecessor to Funkadelic (with the comparison being made even more obvious courtesy of The DCC’s frequent live covers of “Hit It and Quit It”). The problem with funk-rock reputations, however, is that they often tend to play out much better in concert than they do in the studio. This single doesn’t really do much to sway a listener either way in The DCC’s case, though admittedly, that’s more because of the brevity of the release than anything else (three tracks at barely eight minutes, if that).
“Party Planet Rising” itself is a surprisingly strong rock tune in the vein of the late, great Big Chief – a track funky enough to get asses shakin’, but still rock enough to aggressively air guitar along to. The anthemic chorus echoes out powerfully, though the track’s best moment comes just after the first chorus peaks, when the dirty rhythm guitar and bass kick up in nasty fashion. The mostly instrumental funk romp “Ass Struggle” follows, with the only lyrics coming in the form of a few rousing gang choruses of the song’s title. The CD-exclusive toss-off track is an acoustic cover of the Electric Six’s “Gay Bar” (jokingly referred to as the song the Six “stole” from The DCC) that’s good for a few chuckles on the first listen, though that’s about it.
As a sampler to the band’s forthcoming full-length release, this single is a bit scattershot. “Party Planet Rising” is a solid number, indeed, but the Electric Six cover is pretty moot, and “Ass Struggle” is the sort of thing that’s fun, but far more convincing in a live environment. Still, there’s a hell of a lot worse music around to be dropping cash on these days. -Gary Blackwell
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