If you’ve heard of Dutch four-piece funk band Lefties Soul Connection, it’s most likely through their cover version of the DJ Shadow classic Organ Donor. This quartet is more than a one-trick pony though, as this excellent, if somewhat oddly named album demonstrates. Skimming the Skum was recorded on 8 tracks in an old factory in the outskirts of Amsterdam, with each track done in a single take and with no overdubbing. If, as Ubiquity Records would have us believe, jazz is the new classical, then Lefties Soul Connection may be leading the way in making funk the new jazz.

The album gets the nod of approval from guitarist Leo Nocentelli of the legendary New Orleans funk band The Meters. This is not surprising, as the Lefties have a very Meters-like sound at times, especially on the heavier tracks like Chop It! and Move What You Got. Likewise the excellent Get Back (Drum and Clap), with its choppy guitar, the Meters classic “Tippi-toes” came instantly to mind.

Album opener Fais Do-do and Funky Chick deliver the straight-up banging raw funk that fans of their first album Hutspot will love. Funky Chick is the obligatory jam track, giving the organist and bass player a bit of an opportunity to show off their skills. 12 Inch Rims and Freaky Frankie see the band in a slightly more soulful groove, but there is still an irrepressible energy to their music that just makes you want to stamp your feet, nod your head or grab your crotch and yell “Ow!” – or maybe that’s just me.

The album is closed out by The Chank, a track that sums up the Lefties philosophy nicely with the chanted chorus “Keepin’ it raw, we’re gonna keep it raw!” As a quartet, Lefties Soul Connection works very well. Unlike other world-class raw funk bands like Breakestra and Melbourne’s The Bamboo’s, they do without a horn section, and as such avoid the cluttered sound that Breakestra in particular occasionally have. If you like your funk raw and energetic, get this album. Ow!