ORGONE

Cali Fever

[Ubiquity]

Guitars blasting and horns punctuating, West Coast funk and soul outfit Orgone roars out of the gate on its latest release with “The Last Fool,” a shuffling, syncopated piece. Cali Fever never lets up, trading off a succession of ferocious instrumental jams with vocal numbers that showcase the raw, piercing power of singer Fanny Franklin. Orgone’s building block is a species of hard-nosed funk, but the band mixes in elements of soul, Afrobeat, and Latin along the way. The title track is a killer Afrobeat-funk cross-pollination, “Mantanza” has a jazzy Brazilian feel, “Sandstorm” delivers a menacing, cinematic sprawl evocative of the meteorological phenomenon that gives the song its name, and “It’s Time Tonight” starts in a druggy reggae groove before morphing into a pulsating dance number, pushed by Franklin’s vocals. Cali Fever is the sound of a band hitting its stride, using classic sounds to make something all its own. –SM