Boogaloo to the Beastie Boys

The real proof in the pudding of whether the Beastie Boys can really funk it up isn't on their own records. Naysayers have been claiming that it's all a rip, that the grooves are pure sample-happy appropriation. While Dr. Lonnie Smith gave Beck the B-3 treatment on his own Boogaloo to Beck, Love Bug mastermind and killer B-3 boss Ruben Wilson snagged P-Funk keyboard ace Bernie Worrell, saxophonist Andrew Beals, and a rhythm section that includes guitarist Doug Munro and skin popper LaFrae Olivia Sci and dug deep into the Beasties' catalog to let the real soul groove out of the bag. Wilson, unlike many of his peers, is a man who has a defined and ready sense of humor, which is perhaps why his own tunes have been sampled so heavily by DJs and hip-hop rascals. There's no kitsch, no gimmick, just good dirty, nasty fun on this set. One standout on a rather seamless album is the hep reading of "Sabotage," with Beals, Munro, and Wilson trading lines in a call and response that is as musical as it is funky. The slippery solo Wilson takes on "Intergalactic" is at odds with the spacey mix, Beals' liquid chords, and the rim shot breaks supplied by Sci. The repetitive line on "Hey Ladies" goes right for the below the waist, but Beals adds some real romance in his solo too. Worrell's popping five-fingered chord runs in "Something's Got to Give" provide a welcome counterpoint to Wilson's in-the-cut soloing. It's all killer, no filler, and if you really want to know what goes down in "Cooky Puss," you're gonna have to go out and hunt this baby down because you need it. If you dig the Beasties, this is a whole new trip; if you're already hip to Wilson, then this is reason enough to get outta the listening room and get to the store.