In the early 2010s, Too Many Zooz were making noise in New York’s underground music scene. And I mean that quite literally: the trio’s high-energy performances in subway stations made commuters stop, dance, and drop money into their busker’s bucket.
It also made commuters pull out their phones and take video.
Before they knew it, Too Many Zooz were YouTube famous. Their use of traditional funk/jazz instruments to make dance music – they called it “brasshouse” – came off as both completely new and somehow familiar. Their track “Warriors” is a good example. It makes you want to grab some glowsticks but also put on a fedora and order an espresso. And then there’s the song that builds a fantastic groove out of a car alarm.
Eventually they moved from subway stations to stages all over NYC and the world, although they still perform down there from time to time. When they do, it’s often their cover songs that get the most attention. The way they take a wide array of artists’ work (Nirvana, Backstreet Boys, Gloria Gaynor, Michael Jackson) and turn them into funk-infused bangers is fantastic.
But their cover of Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” stands out for its slower tempo and higher emotion.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The bari sax (played by Leo Pellegrino) is the perfect instrument to replicate Teddy Swim’s voice; gritty but rich in tone.
2. Drummer David Parks, who basically plays a marching band bass drum with a variety of percussive accessories attached to it, uses a tambourine as a hi-hat here. I can safely say this is perhaps the only context I know of in which a tambourine could be described as “plaintive.”
3. Trumpeter Matt Doe plays what is a bluesy guitar solo in the original, and after so much baritone sax Doe’s instrument seems to really soar.
Recommended listening activity:
Missing your train on purpose.