Review: Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats "Meet The Meatbats"

"A journey through funk, punk, and beyond"...welcome to Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. Most of you know Chad Smith as the drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Chickenfoot. As if that weren't enough diversity for one resume, he is back with a completely new project that I can't even classify.

Introducing the Meatbats: guitarist Jeff Kollman, keyboardist Ed Roth, bassist Kevin Chown, and of course Chad Smith (on drums, duh!). Do they sound like Red Hot Chili Peppers? Do they sound like Chickenfoot? Do they sound like Red Hot Chickenfeet?

Yes and no. First of all, the big difference is that there are no vocals. That's right, kids, this is an instrumental album. They are also calling it "jazz". But this ain't your daddy's jazz. Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats fuse together elements of classic rock, old school funk, blues, and 70s lounge/R&B. The CD plays almost like a long jam session that we've been invited to attend. Not my usual selection off the musical menu, but this is an intriguing listen and will be fun to play at parties. But like most instrumental records, ultimately I feel the band is getting a lot more enjoyment making the music than I am listening to it. A key standout, however, is the often brilliant keyboards by Roth.

I dug the funky "Need Strange", bluesy "Bread Balls", and the very cool David Gilmour-inspired closer, "Into the Floyd".

"Meet The Meatbats" is set to be released September 15th on Warrior Records / Universal Music Distribution. They are also holding a drum solo contest, with prizes including a drum kit, personal call from Chad Smith (whoever wins, please ask if the next Chickenfoot album will be better than the first), signed swag and more. Check out the details here.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 9, 10

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats on MySpace. Official site.