Downboy

Here is a local rock band with a strong funk and groove undercurrent. Its sound is built around the vocals of Natasha Kmeto, whose warm, husky alto is typically front and center on this debut CD. But it isn’t all Kmeto’s show. Downboy here sounds like a real band, with nicely thought-out guitar parts, fluid bass lines and solid percussion—kinda like if 10,000 Maniacs had spent more time listening to more R&B and soul than folk. The band sounds young. Its members still have a lot of growing to do, and the funk thing is 75 percent there but hasn’t quite gelled; partly, that’s because this CD sounds slightly under-produced. And Kmeto’s musings on the vicissitudes of relationships aren’t the stuff of genius lyric-writing, but they get the job done. Overall, though, it’s smart and nicely done.