Thundercat – Distracted (Brainfeeder) (13th Floor Album Review)

I’ve never quite known what to make of Los Angeles bassist, singer and producer Thundercat (Stephen Bruner).

Perusing his Wikipedia listing, it’s startling to discover he was at one time in thrash/punk crossover act Suicidal Tendencies, and had his modern Thundercat musical persona shaped in part by Erykah Badu, with who has performed as part of her tour backing band. He’s from a family of musicians, and other than the time with boy band No Curfew and later Suicidal Tendencies he was prominent on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly and several albums by Flying Lotus.

For a musician so highly rated, it’s surprising he doesn’t release more material – Distracted is his first album in six years, and features other contemporary musical luminaries like Lil Yachty, Tame Impala and ASAP Rocky. This album is co-produced by Greg Kurstin, Thundercat’s new musical partner, likely the main driver for its distinctly poppy feel.

Although his influences and sounds channel funk, soul, psychedelic jazz and hip hop – all of which I love – this is essentially a pop album, which is why I struggled with it. Catchy, radio-friendly, and with a supposed sunny and euphoric vibe (aside from a few f-bombs littered in the lyrics), Distracted does feature some excellent musicianship a swag of singalong foot-tappers. The now-deceased Mac Miller crops up She Knows Too Much – his contribution presumably recorded before his death in 2018 – which will likely be one of the biggest hits on the album given the rapper’s popularity. Aforementioned ASAP Rocky lends his voice to another potential radio hit, Funny Friends, while What Is Left To Say reminds me of a theme song to an obscure  early ‘80s American TV series.

Although Thundercat is adjacent to a lot of acts I like – Dam-FUNK, Anderson Paak, Frank Ocean, and potentially even the late and very great D’Angelo – I can’t get past the fact it all feels just a bit cheesy and contrived. Although a pleasant listen, and likely to propel him further to mainstream success and popularity, it lacks the gritty edge I look for in contemporary soul and funk. 

The one standout is The Thing We Call Love, a gentle head-nodding house groove which has an inter-stellar vibe thanks to the synth sounds sprinkled throughout. 

Some of his lyrics – touted by other reviewers as important social and romantic/relationship commentary – are quite lost on me.

Another case of an album I wanted to be better than it sounds, but with a whopping 15 tracks and more than 45 minutes, it’ll definitely satisfy those who like it.

It’ll be interesting to see how he presents this material when he performs in Auckland next month. I’m down to review that show for 13th Floor, so I’ll be sure to report back. 

Jeff Neems

Distracted is out today via Brainfeeder