Vulfpeck is an American funk group formed in 2011. They first formed as an impromptu rhythm section for a performance at the University of Michigan. After reading an interview with Reinhold Mack, band founder Jack Stratton conceived of the band as an imagined German version of the great session groups of the Sixties. Their style is based on the Funk Brothers, the Wrecking Crew and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (aka the Swampers of "Sweet Home Alabama" namedrop fame), played with the tightness and precision of a Krautrock group.
Although not members of the core lineup, vocalist Antwaun Stanley, guitarist Cory Wong and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Joey Dosik are touring members and feature on every album. A number of funk and soul greats have also made guest appearances, including Bootsy Collins, David T Walker and Bernard Purdie. There's also Dart and Wong's side project The Fearless Flyers, and Jack Stratton has also recorded two solo albums under the name Vulfmon.
Their output consists of four EPs, five albums, one live album and one entirely silent album. You can check out their YouTube channel here
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Principal Members :
- Jack Stratton - keyboards, drums, guitar, arrangements
- Theo Katzman - guitar, drums and vocals
- Woody Goss - keyboards
- Joe Dart - bass
It's tropey and it's low volume...
- Comedy Music: The Daily Fandom called them "the best comedy band that isn't a comedy band". Musically, they're sincere, straightforward funk, and if you only listened to the albums, you might never even realise how the videos are often infused with Jack Stratton's oddball sense of humour. Their Youtube channel even has various skits where Stratton plays characters like Tin Pan Alley composer Mushy Korngold or German-accented old-school producer Vulfmon. His "official" explanation of the band's name goes like so:"Some people think our name means 'wolf pack'. They're close, but it actually means 'wolf peck', which is to say a tiny kiss from a wolf. I think it's German."
- Compilation Re-release: As well as a compilation version of their EPs (Vinyl Discography, 2014), in 2020 they released compilations focusing entirely on single band members, combining old and new tracks, called the Vulf Vault series and numbered 001 to 006 - Antwaun Stanley, Inside The Mind Of Woody Goss, Theo!, Dart, Wong's Cafe and Here We Go Jack. (The last consisting of original songs.)
- Funk: The original concept of the band was to sound as though a Krautrock band had decided to found a funk/soul sessions band. They record live with minimal overdubs, with incredibly tight grooves and no instruments dominating the mix. Stratton's description of their sound as "it's funky and it's low volume" heard at the end of "Cory Wong" went memetic among their fandom.
- In the Style of: "Tee Time" is a tribute to jazz fusion pianist Richard Tee, with Woody Goss recreating Tee's famously chord-heavy, "pumping" style of performance as primary focus of the instrumental.
- Lead Bassist: Joe Dart is a mix of Types 1 and 4. He's one of the most technically skilled bassists of The New '10s and his parts are (unsurprisingly, for a funk band) often front and center in the band's songs.
- Lyrical Shoehorn: Frequently. Occasionally becomes full-on Word Salad Lyrics. "1612" started life as a quick tune to remember the code to an AirBnB, and features lyrics like:"Aquarion, Ford Taurus/ A strike on the box/ Ooh, Ford Focus/ Roberta Flack Donnie Hathaway/ Frank. Sinatra."
- Minimalism: Part of their style is an ironic minimalism. Their website, vulfpeck.com, is plain text. They have one t-shirt, just called "Vulf shirt (classic)". Joe Dart's signature bass is plain, polished wood and just a single volume control - the Joe Dart II upgrades that to... two volume knobs.
- Once an Episode: Their first three EPs feature a track called "It Gets Funkier" I through III. "It Gets Funkier IV" appears on their fourth album, instead of their fourth EP, though.
- Shout-Out: Their track "Dean Town" is this to another track with an equally upfront and even more complex bassline and an almost identical drum part, "Teen Town" by Weather Report.
- Silence Is Golden: In 2014 Vulfpeck released Sleepify on Spotify, an album consisting of ten thirty-second silent tracks (named "Z" to "ZZZZZZZZZZ"). By letting the album play on repeat, it generated enough royalties for the band to fund an entire admission-free tour, while also drawing attention to how easy it was to game Spotify's royalties system.
- Spin-Off: The first Vulfmon album was #6 of the Vulf Vault series, and the only one to be original songs. The followup Vulfnik is entirely under the Vulfmon name.
