Amazon.co.uk Review
ESG occupy a very individual place in the musical no man's land between new wave (read no wave) punk and alternative '80s dance culture. They simultaneously represent and reflect the time (late '70s early '80s) and place (NYC) from whence they came--a time of musical and cultural collision, fusion and crossover. The all-female group inadvertently established themselves as antecedents to house with tracks like "Tiny Sticks" and "Moody" and hip-hop with seminal cuts like "U.F.O" (later sampled by Public Enemy and Big Daddy Kane) and "Erase You". The Scroggins sisters developed a particularly feminine blend of stepping punk-funk and twisted dance floor fusion with a minimal stripped down sound of rapid drums and percussion, solid grooves and basslines to die for (see "Parking Lot Blues", "Dance" and "Ghistelle" for evidence). ESG are yet another important but largely overlooked group that the Soul Jazz crew have re-tweaked and re-issued for your listening pleasure. Think E for ESG, educational and essential.--
Found Sounds
CD Description
In the early '80s, the Scroggins sisters of New York City'sghettoized South Bronx emerged as the architects of a new kind of funk. Inspired by the almighty groove of James Brown,they fashioned a minimalist, homemade funk sound that relied almost exclusively on bass and percussion. Their initial recordings, originally released on pioneering NYC indie label99 Records, helped set the tone for the mixture of punk, funk, and dub that was an underground club sensation in the post-punk era. ESG's sound was of a piece with artier UK punk-funkers such as Medium Medium and A Certain Ratio, and with New York no-wavers the Bush Tetras and labelmates Liquid Liquid. Over the years, countless rap artists sampled ESG, and the house music scene also owes them a debt. This compilation draws on ESG's 99 recordings as well as more obscure '90s cuts. It shows that ESG possessed an almost childlike innocence and freshness that set them apart from their more cerebral contemporaries. These tracks are all about rhythm, as Renee Scroggins delivers simple vocal melodies over forceful but uncomplicated grooves. It's easy to see why some referred to the group's sound as "playground funk."