Wandering eye (Fat Freddy's Drop) (LP 2499 - 2503)

Fat Freddy's Drop  Live At The Matterhorn  (CD, The Drop Records, 2001) *** 

Fat Freddy's Drop  Based On A True Story  (CD, The Drop Records, 2005) ***  

Fat Freddy's Drop  Dr Boondigga And The Big BW  (CD, The Drop Records, 2009) **** 

Fat Freddy's Drop  Blackbird  (CD, The Drop Records, 2013) **** 

Fat Freddy's Drop  Special Edition Part 1  (CD, The Drop Records, 2019) ****  

Genre: NZ music, reggae, jazz, funk, dub

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records, Samantha Purdy, JB Hi Fi, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Nod (Dr Boondigga)

Gear costume: Bounce (Live); Silver And Gold (Blackbird)

Active compensatory factors: Fat Freddy's Drop is a hard to categorise seven-piece NZ band from Wellington. Their first album was recorded live at a club in Cuba Street, Wellington (Slow Boat Records is just up the Cuba Mall). You can't get more Wellington than that! 

It only has four songs but the CD is 70 minutes long! The guys like to stretch out! What you get are deep grooves with trumpet and sax used as lead instruments with guitar and keyboards adding the groove.

Repetition is the name of the game for Fat Freddy's Drop. That means not only the groove but lyrics as well. On top of that comes lengthy improvisation. I'm a big fan, having been introduced to the band by one of my daughters (she left Boondigga behind when she left home).

It's hard to beat that first impression, so this is my go-to album and the one I promote to friends and family in the UK. It's unhurried but still well constructed and executed.

Blackbird is also a terrific example of the band at their peak. The dub influence is still very much in evidence. It's a harder sound than Dr Boondigga but great summer weather music. It also includes the single Silver And Gold - a clear standout in their catalogue.

Special Edition Part 1 came out in 2019 (there is no Part 2 as yet - maybe there won't be). The music is a little more keyboard driven (think electronica) these days which is cool with me. The reggae influence is still very prevalent though, as are the horns.

It's pretty amazing how they manage to evolve but keep true to their jam band origins.

Where do they all belong? A couple for me to catch up with - including Bays, a studio album from 2015.