Actually! “Level” |SINGLE|

My first thought upon hearing Actually!’s “Level” was that this genre was outside of my wheelhouse. Being self-proclaimed Rock/Funk/Jam band, I felt like I didn’t have enough experience with those genres – specifically Funk and Jam, to accurately critique them. I listened several times, and I sat it down.

A week passed with the last holiday. But the lyrics to the chorus, “level with your devils’ kept replaying in my head. In fact, it has burned itself into my memory. So then I came back to it.

Thank you Actually! for reminding me why I started this site in the first place. To expand my musical mind. Who cares what we might call the music we make? At the end of the day, I am a musician, and so are you – and it’s a universal language. So with that fresh perspective – I listened again, and pardon my french, but shit! The song jams hard.

It’s some sort of cosmic poetry that when I received Actually!’s submission, I was listening to Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention for the first time. I’m sure in some circles the fact that it took me until 30 years of age to hear that album is a sin, but hey – better late than never. I wouldn’t say that Actually!’s “Level” necessarily sounds like The Mothers of Invention – I mean, it sort of does – but I would say it more so embodies the spirit of the album.

There’s a touch of novelty. Maybe one of the band members tongue is planted firmly in their cheek (probably the drummer). But there’s also a real sincerity that shines through. The lyrics are quite poignant when you listen to them.

The groove of the song is funky and locked in tight. The keys give a dreamy counterbalance to it all. Forgive me if some of my references are off base, but like I said, this is a bit out of my field of expertise. But with that said, I get a hint of Primus, a bit of The Doors in the jammier parts. I also hear a bit of eaaaarly Incubus and of course Frank Zappa. There’s a lot of killer drum and guitar work going on here.

You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. And when you do, you can count on the universe to say, “Actually! If you’d pull your head out of your ass there’s a lot of substance here.”

The quick of it: Actually!’s “Level” is a novelty pop song disguised as a jam/funk song. I dare you to listen to it and not have the chorus stuck in your head for the next week.