From the Suicide Tendencies mastermind Mike Muir comes two different sides of this musical chameleon. Recorded live in 1995, these discs give you a healthy dose of the punk side of Mr. Muir with his solo work under the guise of Cyco Miko and then he joins with his Infectious Grooves bandmates to give you a blast of funky metal on the second CD that is destined to be one of the heavily played party disc around.
Fans of Suicide Tendencies will easily relate to both disc but the Cyco Miko one is a little more toward their vein. With a fast as we can play it attitude they rip through the nine songs as if they had a plane to catch. This disc might be the warm up for the second half as they get out all the anger and aggression and may succeed in wearing the audience out before the much better Infectious Grooves set.
Each night of this tour they would play the two sets with IG backing Miko for the first half before launching into their own portion of the show. It is not hard to fathom that the band puts a lot more into the second half and the result speaks for them self. It is a cross between George Clinton and a thrashy metal that bassist Robert Trujillo will become more accustom to with his next band. The music of Infectious Grooves centers around the proficiency of Trujillo on his instrument and his ability to get the audience on their feet. He might have gone on to a higher plateau of stardom with Metallica but his talent is on display much more throughout this disc than Lars and James let him do as the hired gun for Metallica.
Infectious Grooves also bring a humorous approach that draws in the audience and makes this album feel like a fantastic party thrown by the band that just happens to have a few thousand in attendance. What they do on this disc might fall within a narrow band of creativity but they do it so well and Trujillo is on fire as is the dual guitarist Dean Pleasants and Dave Nassie who show off their talents ranging from blistering solos to heavy use of the wah wah pedal on this disc filled with Infectious Grooves.
While this might not be everyone's cup of tea, it has a certain appeal for someone who grew up on the Motown sound. The mash up of funk and metal has made a pile of money for the likes of Kid Rock and I cannot say that he does it any better than these guys. Take a listen and you might just get hooked.
Track listing:
Cyco Miko Disc
1. Intro
2. Cyco Miko Wants You
3. F.U.B.A.R.
4. All I Ever Get
5. All Kinda Crazy
6. Lost My Brain…Once Again
7. Nothin To Lose
8. Ain't Gonna Get Me
9. I Love Destruction
Infectious Grooves
1. Sarsippius Intro
2. Popcorn
3. These Freaks Are Here To Party
4. You Lie…And Your Breath Stinks
5. Turtle Wax
6. Punk It Up
7. funk'n With My Head
8. Boom Boom Boom
9. Rules Go Out The Window
10. Do The Sinister
11. Monster Skank
12. Back To The People
13. Therapy
14. Running With The Bass
15. Violent And Funky
16. Infectious Grooves
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