What About the People?

On What About the People, Smilin' Myron deliver a helping of non-descript, though heartily enjoyable, New Orleans funk. The tracks are infused with a grooving happiness and punctuated by bright horn charts, such as "The Mouse," which is driven by a tropically knotty guitar figure during the song's head before giving way to horn solos. The music isn't trying to make any grand statement. It is good-time social music that would make a fine accompaniment to drinking with friends at nearly any bar. The band can clearly groove well together, though the rhythm section of bassist Marc Pero and drummer Andreas Argenti rarely pulse deep enough to make an impression. Tim Guarisco's guitar solos are competent and suitably slinky, but not engaging. The lyrics and subsequent vocal delivery seem perfunctory at best. The solos are kept clean and short, making the disc a much easier listen than if each player had been given unlimited room to blow.