Here Come the Mummies
The Intersection
March 21, 7 p.m.
$20
sectionlive.com, (616) 451-8232
With so much music available via radio, television and YouTube, music doesn't have to just entertain us, the performers themselves need to be interesting and stand out of the crowd. Here Come the Mummies has no problem getting noticed; it's kind of hard to ignore a band of more than a dozen musicians wrapped up like the embalmed dead of ancient Egypt.
The funk/R&B band has maintained its anonymity since the members began performing together in 2000 (or since 1922, when they were discovered at a dig in the desert south of Tunis, according to them). So, why the anonymity? With hip-thrust inducing jams like "Freak Flag" and the euphemism-saturated "That's What She Said," not to mention the Grammys many members are rumored to have hidden under their belts, it's hard to see why the band stays hidden under the garb of the undead.
"Most things worth having are kept secret," said Java Mummy, vocalist and band spokesmummy. "You know, like where those elves keep the Keebler tree."
Most masked personalities that come to mind tend to be superheroes, and if the band members have one superpower, they'd say it was "social lubrication." Java said if fans take anything away from the show, he hopes it's, "the phone number of the hottie standing next to them."
Powerful, funky sounds, lyrics that are not just catchy but hilarious and inappropriate (see "Attack of the Wiener Man" and "Booty"), as well as the combination of their personality and instrumental skills, make Here Come the Mummies nothing if not an intriguing enigma.
"People can expect the same infection-good time they have had at our previous visits, but with several new songs and antics," Java said about the upcoming Cryptic Tour.
These new songs will hopefully allow fans a glimpse of the band's newest album the members plan to finish before summer. Since their last album, Hits & Mrs., released in 2012, the band has been in the studio recording and, "seeing who can grow a six inch Fu Manchu the quickest."
Despite being a little bizarre, the band's persona compliments its music and follows the band's credo by, "not being too serious," says Java. "We stick to the idea that music should be fun and sexy."
