That’s V as in 5. Though really, the title of The Budos Band’s latest album could just as easily stand for Victory. Chiefly because the underappreciated Staten Island crew have definitely cranked out another winner. Not endeavouring to fix what ain’t even close to broke, the nine-member instrumental outfit continue to split the difference between Fela Kuti, Black Sabbath and Daptone soul on this 10-track set of heavy vibes, hard riffs, aggressive horns and ominous overtones. Put all of that together and you’ve got a soundtrack to every great B-movie that never was — from Blaxploitation detective stories to prison-escape thrillers to Italian horror and pretty much anything and everything between. You can call their style Afro-Soul, Evil Funk, Ethio Jazz, Instrumental Rock or whatever you want, really. As long as you’ve got this on the playlist, you can’t lose.
