KOKO-JEAN & THE TONICS are a soul and funk band from Barcelona. Koko-Jean (Davis) previously fronted another Spanish band, The Excitements whose well-received 2016 album ‘Breaking The Rules’ revealed that feisty Koko could “do” Etta James, Tina Turner and Sharon Jones with the best of them! Now we’re not sure how many of the Excitements make up the Tonics but with leather-lunged Koko out front, they deliver the same soul, funk and blues punches as witnessed on their just released album, ‘Love Child’.
The album was prefaced by a single, ‘The Spin’ – a frantic, up-tempo item that was a sort of hybrid of Jackie Lee, Little Richard and the Capitols… odd maybe but effective and packed with energy. The 12 tracker that is ‘Love Child’ offers plenty more of the same!
The set’s big hitters are the funky ‘Gonna Be A Party Tonight’, the wild ‘Too Good To Be True’ and an energized cover of Phil Upchurch’s classic ‘You Can’t Sit Down’. The band slow things down on the ballads – things like the pleading ‘I Can’t Stand You’ and ‘Never Ever’ are redolent of dear Ann Peebles.
Some of the tracks feature an unnamed (on my copy) male vocalist. Try the big bluesy ‘Take Me One More Time’ or the Hammond-punctuated ‘Holding Tight To You’. That male voice is either (and it’s a guess) guitarist Danni Baraldes or organ grinder Victor Puertas. The third member of the Tonics is drummer Anton Jari and between them the trio make a big, big sound – big, but never too big to overshadow Koko-Jean!
KOKO-JEAN & THE TONICS; Love Child – out now via Buenritmo Records
