The Steele Syndicate Serve Up Heaps Of Feel-Good Funk On Debut Album ‘Weekend’s Coming’

Encompassing the themes of work, love and happiness, ‘Weekend’s Coming’ showcases the band at their raucous and rocking best, with signature doses of funk led by plenty of horns. Each song was recorded using only analogue instruments – so every horn stab, synth note, guitar, organ or kick sound is the real deal. Frontman Steele McMahon divulges:

“I remember tracking the lead guitar line for ‘One Beer (Is Never Enough)’, and having this old Roland Jazz Chorus maxed to the proverbial 11, and there being so much thick noise even when the guitar was not playing, that it sounded like the studio was literally drawing breath.

While it was challenging to utilize only real instruments, in a day where nearly every sound can be achieved with the touch of a button, I think it presented a fun and creative opportunity to embrace limitations, and really allow the nuances and idiosyncrasies of analogue instrumentation to shine.”

The band’s feature album opens with the thought-provoking, sway-inducing ‘City of Dread’. It sets the scene for next track ‘Dance’ to steal the spotlight, and amp things up with plenty of brassy fanfare.

‘Stop and Stare’ pulls things back a moment to appreciate the moment you fall in love, written about frontman Steele McMahon’s now-fiancé. We’re then serenaded by the playfully percussive bossa-nova beauty of ‘Cold Without You’, but things aren’t cold for long as instrumental ‘Pimento’ delivers the sizzling heat with its disco-tinged beat and heroic horn refrain.

Next up, ‘One Beer (Is Never Enough)’ is an absolute party-starter, created for those who don’t believe in having too much of a good thing – until they do.

‘Dream’ joyfully takes the notion of things feeling ‘too good to be true’ and kicks it to the curb, while follow-up ‘Creek Crossing’ is a dramatic retelling of the time the band members tried to navigate rising waters amid flash-flooding.

‘Sometimes’ is a tune inspired by The Teskey Brothers‘ approach to 6/8 soul, leading into the funky ‘Fields of Strawberries’ which really brings the jam and spreads it on thick.

The album’s title track is a desperate plea for the weekend and everything it represents. ‘Weekend’s Coming’ is a swoon-worthy slow-burn slice of indie rock that erupts in cathartic release with an uplifting and majestic singalong outro.

Ending on a mellow anthem for the perfectionists, ‘Okay To Just Be Okay’ muses that – ‘you don’t have to always be perfect, sometimes it’s okay to just be okay’.

The Steele Syndicate feel most at home with a live audience in the palm of their hands, so their list of previous shows is long. They’ve played spots at Woodford Folk Festival, Caloundra Music Festival, Mitchell Creek and Tablelands Folk Festivals, as well as headlining Summer Sounds in Naarm/Melbourne. They’ve also made fans at Double J, Australian Music Scene, AAA Backstage, MTV, The Music, MilkyMilkyMilky, LiveWire AU, Scenestr, The Point, as well as a host of community radio stations.

Hang in there because ‘Weekend’s Coming’ will be out on October 14. The band are also in the midst of their tour, with a couple of dates still to go to get lost in the raw energy of their feel-good funk IRL!