The young Jersey trio of Pink Stallone has been churning out promising homemade house for a couple years now, but it wasn't until the group met Joey Washington that they decided to put the results of their music to tape. A house vocalist with a number of releases on Strictly Rhythm and a handful of other labels in the early '90s, Washington's full-bodied voice adds a lovely touch of old-school cred to Stallone's rough-edged, neo-Chicago house sound.
With Washington on board, Stallone's first self-released 12-inch offers two odes to life on the East Coast. "Seaside Conga" utilizes a hand-drum laden groove for Washington to talk-rap a set of jump-rope rhymes depicting life on the Jersey shore. Girls gone shopping, rentacops and "meathead freaks" all get their due. It revels in a wry sense of local pride, all tawdry details and oddball characters, amid numerous layers of fat, squelchy analog bass. "The Six" crosses the Hudson to share some love for the downtown Manhattan hoods serviced by the eponymous subway line. Here you feel the group flexing what comes naturally, churning out a horny, slow-mo bronco-bucker fueled by pummeling bass, while Washington gives his pipes a solid go, which would have been nice on "Seaside Conga" as well. Hell, he'd pretty much sound good on anything—when he wails "Riiidiiinnnng!" the tune turns into a solid fist-pumper.
Both tracks wear their live take vibe upfront, bearing a loose, jammy feel, as if they've been pieced together from a string of late-night freak-outs. This also means that the tunes have a tendency to meander, especially when Washington takes a breather. They can become momentarily uncertain, or throw in a slap bass or guitar solo out of nowhere. Track editing isn't a question, though, if you're lucky to catch the group in the club, unedited and severely loud. At a recent live gig in Brooklyn, the trio whipped acid house beats out of vintage hardware while Washington sang in lusty freestyle, all of it pushed through a drastically overblown PA that in the end arguably suited their sound, producing something like a low-end Throbbing Gristle performing with Donna Summer, simultaneously inhuman yet full of heart.
Tracklist: Pink Stallone - The Six
A The Six
B Seaside Conga
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