• Basket
  • RA Store
  • Login / Register
  • Login
  • Register
Resident Advisor
×
Search
Submit
Did you mean
×
  • Resident Advisor
  • Magazine
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Features
    • Videos
  • Listings
    • Events
    • Clubs
    • Festivals
    • Photos
  • Music
    • Artists
    • New Tracks
    • DJ Charts
    • Podcasts
  • Search
  • Reviews
  • /
  • Albums

Thundercat - Drunk

    • Label /
      Brainfeeder
      BFCD064
    • Released /
      February 2017
    • Style /
      Jazz, Funk, Hip-Hop
    • Comments /
      26 / View
    • Rating /
      4.3/5
    • Previous
    • Next
    Thundercat - Drunk Thundercat - Drunk
    Thundercat - Drunk "I feel weird," sings Stephen Bruner, AKA Thundercat, on "Captain Stupido," the second song on his fourth album, Drunk. He suggests some coping strategies to himself—"beat your meat, go to sleep." In the casual language of a Seth Rogen film, Drunk consults a teenager's self-help guide for overcoming unease. Get high. Watch anime. Play pachinko. The glitter-specked jazz fusion of Drunk never suggests the onset of anxiety. On most of the album's 23 tracks, where Bruner's bass squiggles around rich layers of piano, keyboard, guitar and vocal harmony, everything seems fine. Understanding that it's not isn't what Bruner wants you to grasp. Instead, he gestures to the handlebars on the bike that he pedals, on "Jameel's Space Ride," "through all the bullshit with the wind in my face."

    In the years since his 2011 debut, The Golden Age Of Apocalypse, Thundercat albums have drawn more readily from Bruner's life, though the themes were usually familiar. On Apocalypse, released two years later, "Heartbreaks + Setbacks" negotiated romantic hurdles in broad terms. "Them Changes," a song on his last release, The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam, recounts having his heart ripped out and "thrown in the trash." (The track reappears on Drunk.) Bruner's latest full-length largely forgoes abstraction for a plainspoken style, couched in running commentary and loose asides. "From the minute I wake up / I'm staring at the screen / watching the world go insane," he sings on "Bus In These Streets."

    The music on Drunk matches the snap of Bruner's to-the-point lyrics. Most songs, many of which are co-produced by Flying Lotus, are one to two minutes long. A few are even more concise. Some are interludes ("Day & Night"); others, such as "3AM," are nuggets of internal monologue, captured with the immediacy of an Instagram post. There's instrumental jazz funk ("Uh Uh"), synthy R&B ("Jethro"), yacht rock ("Show You The Way," featuring Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins) and several hip-hop tracks, including a duet with Kendrick Lamar, whose To Pimp A Butterfly album was co-produced by Bruner. On Drunk's numerous vignettes, Bruner presents his extensive musical interests in an effortlessly relatable style.

    On "Jameel's Space Ride," Bruner worries about encountering police over a synthy Nintendo beat. By suggesting that such scenarios might compare with a boss fight in a videogame, he imposes fantasy onto an everyday, existential hazard: "Will they attack? / Would it be cause I'm black / I want to fly away off into space and into the sun." Moreso than mortality, a constant companion on Bruner's albums, Drunk ruminates on escape. On "A Fan's Mail (Tron Song Suite II)," he considers the ease of a cat's life. He binges on fish and anime in "Tokyo." On the Mono/Poly-produced "Friend Zone," he consoles himself by playing Mortal Kombat and Diablo. In these tensions between his indulgences and the hassles of being a young, black man, Bruner shows that one is a refuge from the other.

    As Drunk reaches its woozy, downtrodden climax, a loose concept emerges. The album is a scattershot diary of Bruner's day-to-day, examined through the lens of his recreational pursuits—that is, getting fucked up. But, when Bruner's social conscience speaks up, the insights—spiced with slacker humour, free of sanctimony—are persuasive, even moreso when accompanied by an embrace of his flaws, or, in the case of "The Turn Down," a silly digression. Where guest vocalist Pharrell Williams gauges the political climate in broad, blunt strokes, Bruner observes those issues through references to Air Jordans and Captain Planet. Levity and trauma go hand-in-hand—for the sake of Bruner's sanity, they have to. "One more glass to go / where this ends we'll never know," Bruner sings on "DUI," the album's last song. The answer, after nearly an hour of tragicomic soul-searching and self-medicating, remains foggy.
    • Published /
      Tue / 7 Mar 2017
    • Words /
      Ray Philp
    • Share
    • Tracklist /
      01. Rabbot Ho
      02. Captain Stupido
      03. Uh Uh
      04. Bus In These Streets
      05. A Fan's Mail (Tron Song Suite II)
      06. Lava Lamp
      07. Jethro
      08. Day & Night
      09. Show You The Way feat. Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins
      10. Walk On By feat. Kendrick Lamar
      11. Blackkk
      12. Tokyo
      13. Jameel's Space Ride
      14. Friend Zone
      15. Them Changes
      16. Where I'm Going
      17. Drink Dat feat. Wiz Khalifa
      18. Inferno
      19. I Am Crazy
      20. 3AM
      21. Drunk
      22. The Turn Down feat. Pharrell Williams
      23. DUI
    0/
  • Popular reviews

    • 20 comments

      Hunee - Hunchin' All Night

    • 26 comments

      Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha

    • 95 comments

      DJ Healer - Nothing 2 Loose / Prime Minister Of Doom - Mudshadow Propaganda

    • 4 comments

      DGTL Amsterdam 2018: Five key performances

    • 27 comments

      DJ Koze ‎- Pick Up

    • 18 comments

      Regal / Amelie Lens ‎- Involve 020

    • 12 comments

      Krystal Klear ‎- The Division

    • 8 comments

      Bangface Weekender 2018: Five key performances

    0/
  • Comments loading

    0/ #308004
    • More on Brainfeeder

      Brainfeeder


      View the full label profile

    • Reviews

      • 1 comments

        Ross From Friends - Aphelion

      • 26 comments

        Thundercat - Drank

      • 1 comments

        Lapalux - The End Of Industry

      • 4 comments

        Jameszoo - Fool

      • 2 comments

        Iglooghost - Chinese Nü Yr EP

      • 8 comments

        Thundercat - The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam

      • 2 comments

        Lapalux - Movement I, II & III

      • 7 comments

        Matthewdavid - In My World

      • 3 comments

        Taylor McFerrin - Early Riser

      • 4 comments

        Teebs - Estara

      • 11 comments

        Lapalux - Without You

      • 10 comments

        Ryat - Totem

      • 9 comments

        Martyn - Hello Darkness

      • 7 comments

        Lapalux - When You're Gone

      • 55 comments

        Martyn - Ghost People

      • 16 comments

        Martyn - Masks / Viper

      • 8 comments

        Samiyam - Sam Baker's Album

      • 3 comments

        Tokimonsta - Creature Dreams EP

      • 8 comments

        Matthewdavid - Outmind

      • 3 comments

        Mono/Poly - Manifestations EP

      • 20 comments

        Teebs - Ardour

      • 2 comments

        The Gaslamp Killer - Death Gate EP

      • 1 comments

        Lorn - Cherry Moon

      • 6 comments

        Daedelus - Righteous Fists of Harmony

    0/
  • More on Thundercat

    • Thundercat
      Add to favourites


      View the full artist profile

    Upcoming dates

    • Fri01/Jun 2018

      London

      Field Day 2018

    • Sat02/Jun 2018

      Dublin

      Forbidden Fruit Festival 2018

    • Wed01/Aug 2018

      Amsterdam

      Dekmantel Festival 2018

    • Thu02/Aug 2018

      South + East

      Bestival

    • Fri17/Aug 2018

      Kanto

      SONICMANIA 2018

    News

    • Tue, 10 Apr 2018

      1 comments

      Kamasi Washington announces new double album, Heaven And Earth

      Thundercat appears on the the two-and-a-half hour LP for Young Turks.

    • Fri, 16 Feb 2018

      26 comments

      Thundercat releases chopped and screwed version of his album Drunk

      Houston artists DJ Candlestick and OG Ron C are behind the remixed LP, Drank.

    • Mon, 05 Feb 2018

      2 comments

      Field Day unveils 2018 lineup, Erykah Badu to headline

      Fever Ray, Nils Frahm and Madlib are among the artists performing at the London festival, which is moving to Brockwell Park in 2018.

    • Tue, 23 Jan 2018

      61 comments

      Dekmantel reveals lineup for 2018 festival

      The Amsterdam promoter has posted a video that reveals its full programme for this year's edition.

    • Thu, 09 Nov 2017

      9 comments

      Bristol music venue Thekla loses property development fight

      A residential and commercial development to be built 150 metres from the venue was given the go-ahead by Bristol City Council last night.

    • Tue, 22 Aug 2017

      1 comments

      Flying Lotus to take 3D show on North American tour this fall

      His 25-stop itinerary begins with two nights at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, where he'll be joined by Thundercat.

    • Thu, 15 Jun 2017

      2 comments

      Red Bull Music Academy goes to Berlin for 2018

      RBMA will return to the city it started in for its 20th anniversary.

    • Tue, 06 Jun 2017

      Post a comment

      Flying Lotus' film Kuso secures wide release

      The movie, which begins streaming in July, features George Clinton, Hannibal Buress and Tim Heidecker, plus music from Aphex Twin.

    Reviews

    • 26 comments

      Thundercat - Drank

    • 26 comments

      Thundercat - Drunk

    • 8 comments

      Thundercat - The Beyond / Where The Giants Roam

    0/
    • RA
    • Copyright © 2018 Resident Advisor Ltd.
    • All rights reserved
    • Privacy & Terms
    • Resident Advisor /
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Jobs
    • RA Events

    • RA Tickets /
    • My Tickets
    • Ticketing FAQ
    • Resale
    • Sell tickets on RA
    • Submit event

    • Apps /
    • RA Guide
    • RA Ticket Scanner
    • Elsewhere /
    • Watch on YouTube
    • Follow on Facebook
    • Listen on Apple Music
    • Stream on Spotify
  • RA is also available in Japanese. 日本版
    • RA on YouTube
    • RA on Facebook
    • RA on Twitter
    • RA on Google+
    • RA on Instagram
    • RA on Soundcloud