Posted on 10/12/2009
If George Clinton had booted more heroin and smoked less crack back in the day, he might have churned out something like this. That’s not to say that drugged-out allegory should dismiss the artistic merit of Nuclear Evolution. Sa-Ra’s new double album is a layer cake soundscape; mad noises joined forces to effectuate an aural opiate rush. Fans of Koushik or The Love Below should feel at home but for all those uninitiated in the intergalactic realms of electro sex, welcome to sensory overload made soulful.

Sa-Ra’s had a definitive sound since they dropped. How you define that sound is on you. What’s impressive is that they maintain consistency even though their style is basically a mish-mash. Touches of jazz compliment “Melodee N’mynor,” a hypnotic smile-inspiring creep, a la Roy Ayers’ “Everybody Loves The Sunshine.” Neo-soul crooning propels “He Say She Say” into D’Angelo Voodoo territory while “Move Your Ass” sounds more like something dredged from the gutters of Baltimore. “Traffika” is dope; it’s talk of cocaine abuse and crooked cops over stuttering drums breaks up the love fest nicely as does the synthy funk of “Gemini’s Rising,” a six-minutes-plus cut that sounds like it might have snuck its way off Erykah’s last record.

At 23 tracks, Nuclear Evolution doesn’t bore, bewilder or bottom-out; it blends together sweetly and builds when it needs to. Sa-Ra has arrived from the hype. The myth is reality - believe that. “The Bone Song” just came on. I gotta call my girl. Out.

-Jeff Artist