Despite being one of the most talented and influential musicians to emerge in recent years, Thundercat has flown under the radar of the general public for most of his career. While his body of work may not contain many “radio-friendly” singles that we tend to hear in today’s internet age of music, he has continued to improve and develop a unique sound with every new album release. What has set Thundercat apart from others has been his major collaborations in the past, many of which have been critically acclaimed in their respective genres. His resume includes Kamasi Washington’s The Epic, Flying Lotus’ You’re Dead!, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and Childish Gambino’s Because the Internet, to name a few. His influence among these projects has been a major contributor towards the revival of jazz, soul and funk in mainstream music.
As Thundercat’s fourth studio project, Drunk is an interesting album to say the least. Stylistically, it’s a soulful jazz-fusion record built around short cuts and lighthearted humor. But, as the title would imply, the album is a soundtrack to inebriation, which turns out to be just as convoluted as it sounds. Drunk is one of Thundercat’s most complete records to date, but it’s oversaturation of tracks and lack of a clear message keeps it from being the perfect release.
The album starts off with the song “Rabbot Ho,” a slow and ominous track. The title is a metaphor for the journey into the unknown that alcohol can take you on, much like that of Alice in Wonderland. In Thundercat’s case, this journey is just as driftless as Alice’s, and will leave you asking what it all means. Tracks like “Captain Stupido,” “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)” and “Tokyo” are all examples of this–full of fart noises, descriptions of Tokyo tourism and even Thundercat meowing like a cat. It could be argued that this is one large and loosely connected metaphor for how weird things can get while you are drunk, but these topics are so extreme and silly that they start to take away from the fluidity of the album, which is unfortunate since there are a lot of good tracks. Songs like “Friend Zone,” “Walk on By” and “Show You the Way” give us a taste of the beautiful sounds Thundercat is capable of, but their significance is lost in the commotion caused by Thundercat’s lighthearted humor.
This brings up another issue within the album. With 23 songs totaling at just over 50 minutes long, the album squeezes too many tracks into too little time. Despite plenty of songs coming in at under two minutes, Thundercat still felt it was necessary to throw in a handful of 30 second interludes. With how short most tracks end up being, these interludes do nothing but dilute the significance of them, adding unneeded noise to an album which is already in conceptual disarray. Stylistically, there also tends to be a lack of variety between these songs as well, causing only a handful to stand out on their own. Fortunately, Thundercat’s style is full of soul and is easily listenable, so it’s not the worst thing in the world. By the end of the album, however, everything begins to sound the same. It would have been more powerful if Thundercat had kept a “quality over quantity” mindset when putting this album together. Despite these criticisms, instrumentation is truly a shining star for this project and, while there may be a lack of variety between some of the songs, the music Thundercat has made is undeniably unique.
Overall, Drunk is a decent project designed by one of the industry’s leading creative minds. Packed full of soulful grooves and a handful of excellent features, it improves upon the sound that Thundercat is best known for, but falls short of feeling like a true album, instead feeling like a compilation of underdeveloped ideas. If Thundercat could cut out a handful of tracks and expand the sounds of others, the album would become much more memorable. In the end, Drunk won’t be the release that makes Thundercat a household name, but it is a solid addition to his body of work which continues to evolve as his career progresses.
Grade: B
