Goofer Dust

by Noot d' Noot

Format: LP

Label: International Hits

Atlantans know Noot d’ Noot well. Maybe from the band’s monthly summer parties with Judi Chicago (kookily called Worming the Starhole) at Lenny’s. Or maybe because the group consists of members from bands like The Selmanaires and Good Friday Experiment. This record, then, is yet another way to get to know this huge funky musical conglomerate

just that little bit better.

Everything about the LP is made to grant listeners and fans more knowledge about Noot d’ Noot. From the colorful geometric patterns of the trippy album art, complete with the band’s name and album title shooting out like a Blaxploitation flick, to the wild, hippie-inspired drawing on the insert, Noot d’ Noot’s image is driven home with gusto. The aforementioned insert also has a letter “explaining” Noot d’ Noot’s actions, from the mysterious “Sgt. Gary Flowers (ret.).” Using beat-esque lines like “So keep an eye on your fries, or pay in the blood of a thousand crying scorpions,” we are introduced to the music and history of the Noot.

And so onto the music. Though live the band is truly a funk explosion, with blaring saxophones and hypnotizing percussion, the record itself is much more contained. Seeing as trying to capture the wild party that is onstage at a Noot d’ Noot show would be futile, this choice to pull back somewhat is wise. The result is psychedelic, groovy wonderment. What at first sounds like a throwback to Curtis Mayfield is something far more modern than that, with quirky additions of spacey blips and beeps, creating something almost akin to math rock, as in “Sugar Bicycles,” or Air’s “Playground Love” on “Poison Pen.” Tracks like these soothe the listener into a state of groovy reverie, winding the party down after the vigorous booty-shaking tracks like “José Tussin” and the aptly-named “Fire King” have finished. Blazing with bongos, jazzy cymbals, wandering organs and funky horns, “Fire King” best represents Noot d’ Noot’s live performance, with tribal beats and mesmerizing rhythms that turn every show into a full-on party. With Goofer Dust, there is still a party. It’s just the kind that goes on after the show is over.

www.myspace.com/nootdnoot
-Leila Regan-Porter