Freaky Styley in Bloomington, MN

The closest
the Red Hot Chili Peppers
ever came to straight
funk
,
Freaky Styley
is the quirkiest, loosest, and most playful album in their long and winding catalog. It's also one of the best, if least heard. A year earlier, in 1984, they'd made their self-titled debut with a stiff album produced
Andrew Gill
of
Gang of Four
fame. The album had its share of good songs, most notably
"True Men Don't Kill Coyotes"
and
"Get Up and Jump,"
but
Gill
's cold and tinny production riddled
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
with the same sort of problem that made
's early-'80s albums so distasteful. Namely, the production sucks all the life out of the music and makes it seem distant and unapproachable, as if you were listening to the album in a long tunnel with reflective metal walls. Here on
that problem is thankfully solved: enter producer extraordinaire
George Clinton
. The
legend not only gives
the Peppers
the sort of warm and loose-limbed production that had graced many a
Parliament
/
Funkadelic
album over the years, but he also seemingly gives the band some serious inspiration. For instance, a pair of covers of
classics instantly stand out --
"If You Want Me to Stay"
(
Sly & the Family Stone
) and
"Africa"
the Meters
), the latter retitled
"Hollywood (Africa)"
here -- and they're made all the more standout with the addition of
Maceo Parker
Fred Wesley
on horns.
The Peppers
also write a number of strong songs of their own. If none stand out, per se -- with the exception of the two covers, that is -- that's because they're all fairly good, relatively rough songs. Sure, some are slight, no question about that, but they help the album flow from one song to the next, because the songs are all more or less different from one another in subtle ways. And they're performed with vigor, as original guitarist
Hillel Slovak
is thankfully back aboard (replacing
Jack Sherman
, who played guitar on
and co-wrote the bulk of these songs), and he makes a major contribution to practically every song, playing straight
here more so than the
funk-metal
that would characterize the band's subsequent album,
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan
. And to make mention of that 1987 follow-up,
would move on to a new producer, making this their one collaboration with
Clinton
. They'd never quite recapture the pure
sound of
again, likely as a result. That's one reason why this album is so special, but it's also because
have a good clutch of songs to work with in addition to excellent production. And too, they seem relaxed and at ease here, playing quirky songs without any self-consciousness, a quality lacking on their debut. It's a quality lacking on subsequent albums also, though to a lesser degree, when
would begin sharpening their
pop
smarts and crafting catchy songs rather than just fun jams like these. So if you're feeling adventurous and are drawn to the idea of
together in the same studio back in 1985 without any
-crossover ambitions, give
a listen by all means. It's a cult classic of sorts and a world apart from the where the band would go in later years, for better and for worse. ~ Jason Birchmeier