Bootsauce – Bootism: The Bootsauce Collection

Man, this stuff takes me back to the 90s. Bootsauce were a band from Montréal who blended metal, funk, rap and soul from 1989-1996. They won a Juno Award for their cover of Hot Chocolate’s Everyone’s A Winner.

I never owned The Brown Album, though I heard it enough in the art room at high school. Pretty sure at one point I did own their album called Bull, though, as my memory of it is pretty strong. Or maybe my buddy Brian owned it and I borrowed it a lot? I don’t know. Anyway, it’s a great record!

So, to my (possibly unreliable) memory, this compilation covers just about everything you’d need from these guys… short of buying their albums, natch. It rocks, it funks, and it holds your attention damn well. Buzzsaw guitars, heavy bottom end, and Drew Ling’s growly vocals add to the funk stew (think RHCP and Primus and Beastie Boys and…). Some of it sounds a bit dated, these days, but you can’t deny (personal fave) Love Monkey #9, the rap-rock of Touching Cloth, the weird swing funkmetal of Masterstroke… or the stomp of Play With Me, the danceability of Moanie, and their cover of the Beastie Boys’ Fight For Your Right is straight up punk rock bliss (and quotes the Three Little Pigs) too. Lots of great stuff here.

Fun times on memory lane, this one!