Infectious Grooves/Cyco Miko - Funk It Up & Punk It Up: Live In France '95

Release Date: June 15th, 2010
Label: Suicidal Records

TRACK LISTING

DISC 1:
1.  Intro
2.  Cyco Mike Wants You
3.  F.U.B.A.R.
4.  All I Ever Get
5.  All Kinda Crazy
6.  Lost My Brain… Once Again
7.  Nothing To Lose
8.  Ain't Gonna Get Me
9.  I Love Destruction

DISC 2:
1.  Sarsippius Intro
2.  Popcorn
3.  These Freaks Are Here To Party
4.  You Lie…And Your Breath Stank
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 Stank
12.  Back To The People
13.  Therapy
14.  Running With The Bass
15.  Violent And Funky
16.  Infectious Grooves

September 1, 2010

Reviewer: Ilmarinen

Listening to Infectious Grooves Live brought back an old memory.  Three or four years ago I was having dinner at Applebee's with friends.  We were doing chilled shots of Stoli and waiting on our steaks, when a different waiter approached, pointed at my Emperor shirt and said, "Nice tee man, have you seen them live?" I replied, that, no, unfortunately I never did, and perfunctorily asked what album was his favorite. "Oh, I'm not really into them, I just collect live albums", he said, "Live at Wacken was pretty crisp".  That stayed with me.   There is something almost like a different smell, a different culture to live performances and concert recordings.  For those of us inherently drawn to them, like in the case of my Applebee's waiter, it may even transcend genres.

Infectious Grooves Live brought that memory back as soon as I popped the disc in.  At its core it is funk-metal underscored by God's new gift to Bass-heads, and  presently, sadly wasting away in Metallica, Robert Trujillo.  Muir, as usual, has just the right balance of shriek and groove in his vocals to ride the funk-wave and bring it back from the crowd.   The drums are crisp, and the guitar, while not quite suffering from the Primus-effect (the rhythm is audibly catchy and distinct) is perceptibly lower in the mix.  But instrument inspection aside, there is something more here in this concert in France, in 1995.

Music, especially live music, is a bilateral energy whore.  It can boost you or drop you.  It makes you break things. It whispers in your ear as you open your veins.  On the other hand, this here is an album of good steady uplifting energy.  The performance lives up to the band's name. It is infectious. Just make sure you turn up the volume. The groove energy magic is lost otherwise.

Cyco Miko Live gig is less impressive, if only because it feels irrelevant somehow in the face of Suicidal Tendencies' classic output. I could not help but feel that Mike Muir was doing an impression of himself in the dubious search for the ultimate self-reference.

The quality of the recording is very good. Numerous times you can hear Muir interacting with the crowd, but when the music kicks in, there is no audio interference and all the instruments come in loud and clear.

This is a solid live album for any long-time fan of Suicidal Tendencies or an Infectious Grooves new-comer.  A much stronger impression is left by the Infectious Grooves disc, leaving Cyco Miko feeling like a not so successful B-side.

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