The Meters – Look-Ka Py Py

The Meters' Look-Ka Py Py arrived in 1970 as the New Orleans group's second album, produced by Allen Toussaint and built from the same stripped-back, deeply syncopated approach that made the band such a local institution. The title track was a genuine R&B hit, reaching No. 11 on the US R&B singles chart, while the album made No. 23 on the US R&B albums chart. It has since been recognised in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list, which makes sense once you hear how relaxed and exact these grooves are.

What makes this record last is how much personality The Meters get from concise instrumentals. Art Neville's organ, Leo Nocentelli's clipped guitar, George Porter Jr.'s heavy bass lines and Ziggy Modeliste's off-beat second-line feel give the album a balance of tightness and ease that became a blueprint for later funk. AllMusic calls it the record that continues the sound that made them New Orleans legends, and Pitchfork's later reassessment heard the album's wordless conversation most clearly in the push and pull between Neville and Modeliste.

That economy is part of the appeal: most tracks are short, but songs like Look-Ka Py Py, Pungee and Funky Miracle never feel slight. Instead, the band lock into an idea, sharpen it, and move on before the groove wears out. For anyone tracing the route from late-60s R&B into modern funk, this is one of The Meters' key statements.

Features

• Cut from the original analog master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

Reviews

• The second album by Art Neville's band continues the sound that made them New Orleans legends. - AllMusic.com
• a fullness that is as spectacular as it is labyrinthian - Pitchfork