There may be no more telling factoid about Tank and the Bangas that this: The New Orleans band’s sophomore album was 2014’s The Big Bang Theory: Live at Gasa Gasa, a sure indication that, regardless of the energetic excellence of its 2013 debut, Thinktank, no studio can contain the raucous adrenaline rush of the live Bangas experience. It’s the difference between enjoying a potent cocktail in your finished basement with the stereo cranked and being served a Hurricane in the French Quarter while an impossibly talented band forces your feet to adopt a frantic dance maneuver while rearranging your internal organs with a visceral intensity.
Fronted by church-raised/stage-crazed force-of-nature lead vocalist Tarriona “Tank” Ball — think the love child of Tina Turner and Barrence Whitfield — Tank and the Bangas have been dropping jaws, dusting rafters and lifting souls since their 2011 formation. Ball’s early creative outlet was slam poetry, and that experience informs her effortless rhymes within the Bangas’ Funk/Soul/Hip Hop/Jazz/Rock context, but she’s also a dynamic and passionate R&B singer and the perfect voice for the Bangas’ diverse and danceable soundtrack. She is the band’s visual centerpoint, with a wild mane of multi-colored hair and an ultra-hip thrift-store wardrobe that is less about shabby-chic and more about brilliantly recycled glamor.
For the last three years, Tank and the Bangas have been increasing their fan base and accruing an impressive array of awards for the band’s mantle. The group was this year’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert contest victor, flooring celebrity judges like Trey Anastasio. For proof they deserved the win, take a look at the Bangas’ Tiny Desk version of their superb “Drummers” — it’s an onslaught of Hip Hop bravado, Pop skill, Soul passion and exquisite musical storytelling that plays like a two-and-half-minute Broadway production.
Tank and the Bangas are more than the real deal — they’re the deal, the whole deal and nothing but the deal, so help me God.
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This article appears in Sep 20-27, 2017.