Five Alarm Funk put the fun in funk music.
The Vancouver based horn powered funk behemoths are always a popular draw in Lethbridge and are sure to be again, June 26 at the Slice.
 They  are working on a new concept album they are planning to record in the Fall and released in Spring 2014.
 They just completed the first video for “We All Scream,” the first single off the upcoming CD.
“It’s actually quite a horrendous story,” enthused drummer and vocalist Tayo Brantson. The nine songs are the story of the band who meet a deranged ice cream man who spikes their ice cream with acid, which sends them into a hallucination where they meet a  giant robot and go to the centre of the earth where they end up destroying the world and themselves,  before returning to meet the deranged ice cream man again.

“ It is definitely very dark,” described Brantson.
“ All of the songs have vocals. they are very intense and have a savage feel but at the same time  are a lot of fun,” he continued.

“ We certainly hadn’t intended to write a concept album. We wondered what we wanted to wrap vocals around, but didn’t want to write about relationships or being in love or love lost or anything personal, ” he continued adding a lot of the lyrics were inspired by a fantasy card game the band plays in the van while on tour.

“ We were very careful about the vocals and they blossomed. In the best six months I came up with a story that connected them all,” he said.
They just wrapped up shooting the a video for “ We All Scream,” and are pleased with the result.

”I haven’t even seen the whole thing yet,” he said adding it was officially released on Youtube and on their website www.fivealarmfunk.com, June 19.
“It’s very hilarious and funny. The band meets the ice cream man who kidnaps our beloved conga player and takes him to his factory which is like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And the workers look like oompa loompas. We chase him to the centre of the earth and meet this giant robot. It sets up the next video, he enthused.

Having vocals on their music a bit of a departure for the band who is best known for releasing instrumentals.
 Their  last CD, “ Rock the Sky” was nominated for a Juno award for best instrumental album, though it didn’t win and has just been nominated for best instrumental album at the Western Canadian Music Awards.
“We hope we can take that one home,” Branston enthused.

“ It is definitely a departure, but it  is where we wanted the band to go,” he said.
“ We always want to try something new and different. If you listen to all of our albums, they are all totally different,” he said.

“We do things backwards. Most bands write an album and record it, then go on tour for it. We write the album, then go on tour then record it the way we‘ve always done,” he described.
“ It’s going to be nine songs. We’ve been playing eight of them. So we’ll be playing them and all of the ‘hits.’ So we’re going on tour with 25 songs,” he said  adding the live show develops as the tour does. Lethbridge is three shows in. They premiered the new songs in Vancouver  on 14 and six of the song at  the Juno awards.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life and I’m sure the other guys would say the same,” he said of playing the Juno Awards this year.
“We did our bar show on the Friday night and it rocked,” he said adding the band is excited about being on the road again.
“We’ll be firing on all cylinders,” he promised.

“We’ll be jumping around like a bunch of maniacs,” he said.
“There will be a lot of clowning around and a lot of funk,” he added.

“ It will be vibrant and savage, but there will also be lots of laughter,” he said.
“I’m excited to see what will happen. People should be prepared to sweat like they’ve never sweated before. They’ll be jumping around like a bunch of maniacs,” he laughed.
 The show begins at 9 p.m. There is a $25 cover.