When a high school stage band tries to get funky, an upbeat version of
"When the Saints Go Marching In" with a fat girl singing scat vocals is usually on the cards. High school is a strange place to find deep
funk, but the uniformed afros in
the Kashmere Stage Band's class photo are reaffirming. The
funk is far from juvenile and sounds nothing but professional. This is in contrast to the liner notes, which list their awards and successful competitions. It is hard to imagine a high school band covering songs by acts like
Sly & the Family Stone and adding to them so strongly. The huge sound that
the Kashmere Stage Band brought to the songs makes the
funk deeper and harder.
"Do Your Thing"'s echoed vocals and fuzz tone guitar makes it the most forceful and full track on the album. The band's sound starts to wander into
Funkadelic territory and even the
Fun House-era
Stooges of the same years seem to be connected psychically. It is unbelievable to think that deep in the heart of Texas in the early '70s a high school band was making hard
funk and winning high school competitions with it. While most bands were lumbering through odes to the changing of seasons or traditional arrangements,
the Kashmere Stage Band were mastering a contemporary sound and laying down some of the best and unappreciated deep Texas
funk. Of all the mystery and strangeness about the
Zero Point album and
the Kashmere Stage Band, it is amazing to look at the where they performed. Listed on back of the album sleeve are performances at "Kashmere Valentine Dance," "Terrell Jr. High Coronation," and "Senior Citizens Day." In Texas, could high school students and the elderly been enjoying hard
funk while the rest of the nation was being tortured by Top 40 and super-hits compilations at high school dances? ~ Matt Whalley