Vulfpeck & Vulf - Schvitz (2022) Hi-Res

Experimental funk groovers Vulfpeck are certainly one of the more idiosyncratic bands to be beloved in the modern day. Highly DIY and rich with lore that even the most hardcore fans have a hard time getting their heads around, Vulfpeck is less of a band and more of a portal to another planet, one where bass players get their own basses named after them and sports fascinations can become full-album concepts all their own.

Technically speaking, Vulfpeck hasn’t released a new album since 2020’s The Joy of Music, The Job of Real Estate. Vulf Records, the band’s independent label and umbrella for its extensive family of collaborators, has certainly stayed on top of things though. Vault releases from most of the band’s core contributors, including keyboardist Woody Goss, vocalist Antwaun Stanley, drummer/vocalist Theo Katzman, bassist Joe Dart, guitarist Cory Wong, and band leader Jack Stratton, have all come out in the last two years.

Now, the band is getting back together in an appropriately strange fashion. That’s because Vulfpeck has announced their sixth studio album, Schvitz, which the group recorded in a sauna without telling anyone. If you think that’s weird, just wait until you hear that Wong’s parents named him after a Vulfpeck song.

To preview the upcoming album, the band have released the album’s first track, ‘Sauna’. An appropriate intro, considering the production of the LP, ‘Sauna’ is a Goss-penned tune that fits right into the keyboardist’s eclectic wheelhouse. Reminiscent of Goss’s ‘Smile Meditation’, ‘Sauna’ is powered by a light groove, nonsensical falsetto vocals from Stanley and Katzman, and itchy Wurlitzer piano from Goss that bounces off the thumping bass of Dart and the twinkling acoustic piano lines provided by Joey Dosik.

All in all, it’s a welcome return from the kings of high-concept funk. The Vulf faithful have been eating up the various albums released by Wong and side projects like The Fearless Flyers, but there’s really nothing like the core canon by the main group. Now, if only the boys would get back on the road to bring their captivating live show to the people.