The New Congress: R&B Aces
Wednesday 16 May @ 18:01:37 |
 by DWIGHT HOBBES
R&B aces The New Congress constitute one of the best things there is about the Twin Cities music scene. Rich as the climate has been for ages, TNC have, since their 2005 debut, made it even stronger.
For one, they’ve added their singular presence as a top-notch throwback to an era when you actually had to have chops to do R&B—without relying on computerized equipment to soup up your strengths and hide your weaknesses. Steeped in the old school that gave us the likes of, say, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder and Tower of Power and, frankly, making comparable music, these guys revitalize the genre, itself. And, in fact, copped Best R & B/Soul Single of the Year honors at this year’s L.A. Music Awards for “Make You Move,” off their debut album, Everybody Gets Up!
When they perform live, you don’t get today’s standard rip-off of audio enhancement via soundtracks and/or chips in the stage-mic. You get Aaron “Orange AC” Cosgrove (lead vocals, guitar), Russ King (keys), Justin “J-Biz” Blair (bass), Sean “Smitty” Smith (drums), Manny Fresh (percussion and occasional bass) and DJ Dudley D (turntables) funkin’ up a natural sweat, throwin’ down with the stone-cold real deal. Which they bring like nobody’s business. Plus, vastly improving on the industry’s formulaic fodder of baby-lemme-talk-some-holes-in-your-clothes fare, with TNC you get lyrics it took thought and skill to write. “Ain’t About You,” looks at the rose of romance through world-colored glasses. When something that felt so right goes wrong, the ballad consoles, “I know you can make it on your own/ just think of us when you feel all alone/ don’t be afraid/ everything will be ok/ we can’t live our lives looking back on yesterday”. With the killer chorus, “It ain’t about you/ it ain’t about me/ it’s the street, the beat and the melody.” Then, there’s sci-fi erotica (I didn’t say they can’t jump start one’s libido) with their crowd-rouser “Sex in the Light Year.” TNC they hit the chorus on this jazz-tinged gem, talkin’ ‘bout “Sex without gravity/ sex in the light years/ doin’ it in the light years, baby”, everybody in the joint is right there.
Secondly, conspicuous in their absence from Twin Cities mainstream press—The New Congress got its first write-ups in Pulse of the Twin Cities and Insight News—band founders Cosgrove and King recall when they didn’t have it like that and dig what it is for hustling artists to catch exposure. Accordingly, TNC, who, themselves, opened not all that along ago for Mint Condition, routinely pull in local acts to open shows—a damned good slot for up-and-comers. Aaron Cosgrove reflects, “It started meaning something when guys [would] come up and thank us for the opportunity. Five years ago, you couldn’t get into Bunker’s [where TNC weekly performs] without a following. But, this is a way to help bands at a nationally known venue.” Cosgrove adds, “We [appreciate] when the better bands, like Said Method, 2 Wurds or Junkyard Empire come play with us. I definitely don’t mind sharing our crowd with them. And we get their crowds.” Russ King seconds the emotion, stating, “I don’t personally consider them as having them open for us. We think of it more as sharing the night with us. But, off that bat, it’s great to give other people [an] opportunity to show what they can do.”
Homegrown heroes prevail and give back. Whoever it was that said the good guys finish last should go back to the drawing board. ||
The New Congress headline Thursdays at Bunkers Music Bar & Grill, 761 Washington Ave. N., Mpls., 612-338-8188. Tonight’s openers: soul maestros 8-Switch Assembly.
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