An Italian soul funk band? You just know that such a band will be a purveyor of stylish grooves that will turn the heat up the dancefloor and, duly and verily, West Riveira do just that with their self-titled debut album.
Naturally for a band dedicating to laying down a groove, words don’t make an appearance in these ten songs but, in place of all those build up and drop lyrics beloved of funk bands back in the day, West Rivera instead fire up their musical engine and lay that melody down on the tracks just like they would have done back in the heyday of the genre. There’s even a horn section with an eternally energetic saxophone to shift things into second and even third gear and, before you know it, you will be burning up the dancefloor whilst balancing looking good with a now obsessive need to get down on it.
As debut albums go, West Riviera’s debut is a confident one and their combination of Italian style and their reverential revisitation to the solid gold funk grooves of the past shows a respect for what once was. That will do nicely.