Premiere: Stolen Gin’s Groovy EP ‘Something Sweet’ Is a Lean, Clean Funk Machine

Considering it is their debut, Stolen Gin pull off something particularly impressive with ‘Something Sweet’: The EP — a crisp, electric taste of jam-band funk — doesn’t feel derivative in the slightest.

Stolen Gin have an upcoming show at the Knitting Factor this upcoming Monday, October 4th. Click the link to buy your tickets!

Stream: ‘Something Sweet’ EP – Stolen Gin

If you close your eyes and listen to Stolen Gin, you might find yourself in two places at once. When warm, dry synths boogie down with a nasty baseline on “Analie,” visions of twirling disco balls and platform shoes appear, popping up and down like Prince’s signature split. “Second to the Sun” retains the funk-lovin’ attitude of “Analie,” but the guitar runs in the chorus teleport listeners to a pot-drenched music festival where tie-dye and good vibes flow plentifully. Whether it is a Saturday night out or dinner for two at su casa, Stolen Gin’s platinum blend of funky electro-pop, seasoned with ageless guitar riffs and super tight percussion, will send your hips and feet flying into a moonwalk among the cosmos.

Analie, never had to find no reason,
Gracefully, shifting with change of season,
Won’t you take me, take me back
to sunlit wheat fields
Oh Analie, I don’t trust the way that I feel

– “Analie,” Stolen Gin

Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering Something Sweet, Stolen Gin’s debut release. Out independently out October 31, 2019, Something Sweet was produced by Will Adler (lead guitar) and performed by Jackson Lardner (lead singer and guitarist), Sawyer Adler (bassist), Miles Grossenbacher (Keys), and Harry Smith Jr. (drums).

As a five-piece New York City-based band that combines “elements of funk and dance music to create a unique groove and sound,” Stolen Gin’s influences range  from legendary groovemeisters Daft Punk to psychedelic rockers The Grateful Dead.

“As a guitar player, I’ve always been a student of the chord phrasing and melodic passages written by the likes of Jerry Garcia and Trey Anastasio,” guitarist and lead producer Will Adler tells Atwood Magazine. “As I’ve grown as a producer, I’ve learned to love the production style of French artists such as Parcels and Daft Punk. I tried to blend these inspirations and create more modern sounding jam-band instrumentals.”

Bloodshot eyes, golden tears
A bottle’s use is more than it appears
Bars and brews, bad bad news
The knocking wasn’t loud enough to hear

– “Gasman,” Stolen Gin

“Stolen Gin’s creative chemistry goes far beyond the stage, especially in the cases of Will and I,” singer Jackson Lardner added. “We’ve established an incredibly symbiotic method of music production. Will’s talent for writing, recording and producing instrumental tracks opens the door for me to do what I’ve always wanted, which is writing songs, singing them loud, and strumming some guitar while I’m at it. We both have a good ear for certain aspects of music and sound, allowing ideas to bounced around and heard through different sets of ears. Miles has occasionally helped out by producing his own versions and comparing them to Wills. Giving us all more to listen to and critique on. Harry and Sawyer continue to gig tirelessly around NYC as jazz musicians or anything else, and they’re getting tight as fuck!”

Before shedding and shuffling through the streets of Manhattan as Stolen Gin, the  five dudes originally settled on the name Bathtub Gin—a head nod to Phish’s merciless 24-minute-jam at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Missouri. “I loved Phish as a kid, and Bathtub Gin was one of my favorite songs growing up,” Adler noted. “Then, as we learned of the name being trademarked by a cover band, we had to adjust to Stolen Gin.”

Like bathtub gin – a medley of gritty, delicious ingredients – Stolen Gin marry funky elements together: Part pop, part French house, part classic rock and everything that grooves in between.

Stream: “Gasman” – Stolen Gin

Despite the referential nature of Stolen Gin’s music, they are not musical burglars. Their originality comes full-force on “Gasman,” where Lardner’s smooth as satin vocals take flight in the chorus: “Thinking ‘bout the Gasman and what it could have been / Dancing with the dogs until the end / Gasman if I may, I just wanna say / You better come around sometime again, sometime again,” Lardner croons, evoking nostalgic whiffs of past joints, drinks, and lovers.

“Here and Now,” an interstellar journey fueled by twinkling keys, a mesmerizingly tight baseline, and an epic guitar solo, is the fastest and grooviest on the EP. Something Sweet has its share of surprises too. Just listen to “Road to Reason,” a tumbling ditty that feels as “folky” as a rocking chair on a porch—or project ender “Let It Fall,” which in moments sounds like Steely Dan’s Aja drenched in a daiquiri.

I set sail leaving from golden coast of Spain
Rockin’ through the ocean breeze
and singing the night away
Met my destination on the rocky shores in Maine
Six foot tides and bluebird skies,
I thought I was home again

– “Road to Reason,” Stolen Gin

What is most satisfying about Something Sweet is that Stolen Gin doesn’t overanalyze what it is doing. They might be conspicuously borrowing from their musical heroes (a recipe for failure for the reckless), but Stolen Gin blends these sounds together in unique, refreshingly unapologetic ways. By just letting the funk and groove take over their hands and hearts, this EP—a fresh-to-death mix of disco, funk, house, rock, and pop—is incredibly fun and colorful, just like a teenage stoner’s poster-plastered wall. The next time you need to let loose, I’d suggest you make yourself a gin and tonic and blast Something Sweet so loud that you get noise complaints. After all, there is only so much time in our lives to feel the beat, maaaaaan. So turn up the volume, light a spliff, and dance the night away to Stolen Gin.

Stream: “Analie” – Stolen Gin

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