Red hot, sixties styled R&B from aptly named The Excitements, as they weigh in with their impressive eponymous debut.

There’s no messin’ here as the band get down to some serious business with a truly authentic classic R&B sound. And while the band hold the rhythm down tight, lead singer Koko-Jean Davis whips on top of the groove like a tornado. A rough-hollering soul mama, Koko steps up to the plate and delivers an incendiary performance which, together with the band and, presumably analogue production, sound something not unlike Ike & Tina during their Kent recording years; with Etta James, Sugar Pie DeSanto and James Brown amongst other influences evident here.

The tracks are a well chosen batch of dynamic R&B covers from the likes of Little Gigi, Jimmy Dee, The Falcons and Barbara Stephens- the kind of grooves that make you wanna get up on the table and do “the Jerk”. Take the explosive “Wait A Minute” for example – while the band drive a tight bus, the conductor side-steps down the aisle like a wild banshee, whipping the passengers into a frenzy. On another track, some ‘do-wrong-mister’ stands in unenviable shoes as he receives a scolding telephone call from Koko telling him, in no uncertain terms, “I Don’t Love You No More”. Ouch! And even when this album gets sweeter, on the Little Richard cover “Never Gonna Let You Go”, there are some tough rolling licks in the background to remind us these guys mean business. After all this is released on Spanish label Penniman Records, as in “Little” Richard Penniman, no less.

Production-wise, the sound is exactly right, sounding like the best productions of the time, or perhaps a little better but definitely sounding authentic. This record just feels good and gets down to the real nitty gritty! Some mean soul business. Make it your business to check this out.

http://www.myspace.com/theexcitements
www.pennimanrecords.com