Keeps you on your toes, gets you on your feet

If you were to play funk music for a group of people who had never heard it before, you would be hard-pressed to find someone in that group who didn't dig it at least a little bit; there's something about the groovy, peppy genre that makes it universally pleasing to the ears, at least at first. Many people in this group, however, may grow tired of funk after a short time because, well, it can often get a bit repetitive. There's lots of funk artists out there that tend to repeat the same riff over and over, and whose songs seem to all blend together, which the discerning ear may love, but the casual listener may find monotonous. Minneapolis-based funkmasters, PHO, have arrived on the scene to prove that funk can be dynamic, without tampering with the classic, captivating funk vibe. "Still Waiting," off of the band's 2017 sophomore effort, Two, is a prime example of their ability to slap listeners in the face with pure, unfiltered grooves, while incorporating stylistic variation that keeps you on your toes and gets you on your feet.

"Still Waiting" begins with nothing but the most basic funk ingredients: snappy, yet legato percussion, quick, simple electric guitar loops, and a bass line that takes the lead. Keys then enter the fray, then more guitar patterns, then the horns make their presence known, and before you know it, you've got yourself a delectably funky, piled high layer cake. At this point, you might expect PHO to settle into the rhythm they've constructed for the long haul, but instead, they hit you with a radical tempo change, and the song briefly interludes into what sounds closer to rock-focused soul music, before plunging back into their original rhythm and letting the synthesizer solos run wild for a time. After again shortly returning to the rock-focused soul pattern, the track takes a turn into a synth-led eighties-inspired electronica feel, before working their way back into their energetic funk sound, leading to a rousing climax and abrupt ending. If you've yet to introduce yourself to the wide world of funk, give this little ditty a spin, and you might never be the same again.