Thundercat - Drunk (2017)

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Stephen Lee Bruner (born October 19, 1984), better known by his stage name Thundercat, is an American bass guitarist, singer, songwriter and actor from Los Angeles. 

First coming to prominence as a member of crossover thrash band Suicidal Tendencies, he has since released four solo studio albums and is noted for his work with producer Flying Lotus and his appearances on Kendrick Lamar's 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. 

In 2016, Thundercat won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Performance for his work on the track "These Walls" from To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2020, Thundercat released his fourth studio album titled It Is What It Is, which earned him a Grammy Award for Best Progressive R&B Album. 

Drunk is his third studio album. It was released on February 24, 2017 by Brainfeeder. 

It features guest appearances from Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, and Pharrell. 

It is his first studio album in nearly four years, his last studio album being Apocalypse. Drunk received positive reviews from music critics. A ChopNotSlop remix from OG Ron C, DJ Candlestick, & The Chopstars entitled 'Drank' was released as a special edition purple vinyl record.

Between Apocalypse and Drunk, his second and third albums, bassist Stephen Bruner contributed to a slew of remarkable recordings by fellow Los Angeles dwellers -- Flying Lotus' You're Dead!, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly and Untitled Unmastered, Kamasi Washington's The Epic, and Terrace Martin's Velvet Portraits among them. 

Several months before Bruner picked up a Grammy for "These Walls," off To Pimp a Butterfly, he issued an EP anchored by "Them Changes." His funkiest, sweetest, most vulnerable song, it reappears as the top highlight on Drunk, a fragmentary and scattered program relative to the Thundercat full-lengths that preceded it. 

Bruner is still fueled by numerous forms that immediately preceded his birth -- smooth soul, soft rock, jazz fusion, synth funk, new wave, all late '70s/early '80s -- and filters them through his soft-hearted, mischievous personality. He surrounds himself with a slightly different cast of old and newer associates, including the first three figures listed above, keyboardist Dennis Hamm, drummer Louis Cole, and producer Sounwave. For better and worse, there's a lot of foolishness occurring here. 

Bruner dreams about being a cat (replete with meowing background melody), pens a tribute to Japanese pop culture ("Just point me to the Pachinko machines"), and delivers a sarcastic jingle regarding social media fatigue ("I'm out here probably doing the most"). 

At times, the whimsicality sinks into middle school humor ("Captain Stupido") and misogyny ("Friend Zone"). 

Love and mortality remain Bruner's strongest subjects, placed on full display in terse but touching ballads like "Lava Lamp," "Jethro," and "3AM." In "Show You the Way," another bright spot, he swaps verses with Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, two of his heroes, to swirling and balmy effect. Additional guests Kendrick, Pharrell, and Wiz Khalifa add to the star power, but the main attraction is Bruner's singular combination of tremulous yet fluid bass and aching falsetto. 

Track listing

1.  Rabbot Ho - 0:38

2.  Captain Stupido - 1:41

3.  Uh Uh - 2:16

4.  Bus in These Streets - 2:24

5.  A Fan's Mail (Tron Song Suite II) - 2:38

6.  Lava Lamp - 2:58

7.  Jethro - 1:34

8.  Day & Night - 0:37

9.  Show You the Way  (featuring Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins) - 3:34

10.  Walk on By  (featuring Kendrick Lamar) - 3:19

11.  Blackkk - 1:59

12.  Tokyo - 2:24

13.  Jameel's Space Ride - 1:09

14.  Friend Zone - 3:12

15.  Them Changes - 3:08

16.  Where I'm Going - 2:09

17.  Drink Dat  (featuring Wiz Khalifa) - 3:35

18.  Inferno - 4:00

19.  I Am Crazy - 0:25

20.  3AM - 1:15

21.  Drunk - 1:42

22.  The Turn Down  (featuring Pharrell) - 2:29

23.  DUI - 2:18

Japanese version bonus track

24.  Hi  (featuring Mac Miller) - 3:01

Personnel

• Stephen "Thundercat" Bruner – vocals (all tracks), bass (all tracks), programming (tracks 10-12, 18, 19, 21, 22)
• Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – strings (tracks 18, 23)
• S. Burris – synth-bass (track 8)
• Zane Carney – guitar (track 2)
• Louis Cole – drums (tracks 4, 13), keyboards (tracks 4, 13), programming (tracks 4, 13), "basically everything" (track 13)
• Kevin "Daddy Kev" Moo – mastering
• Charles "Mono/Poly" Dickerson – keyboards (track 14), programming (track 14
• Steven "Flying Lotus" Ellison – mixing, additional production (tracks 1-5, 7-10, 13, 15, 16, 18-23), synthesizer (track 15), programming (tracks 2, 7, 9, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21)
• Taylor Graves – keyboards (track 17), programming (track 17)
• Dennis Hamm – keyboards (tracks 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 18, 20, 23), piano (tracks 3, 15), synthesizers (track 6)
• Kendrick Lamar – vocals (track 10)
• Kenny Loggins – vocals (track 9)
• Michael McDonald – vocals (track 9), keyboards (track 9)
• Harry Rabin – engineer (track 9)
• Mac Miller – vocals (track 24)
• Deantoni Parks – drums (tracks 7, 16)
• Zack Sekoff – programming (track 3)
• Mark "Sounwave" Spears – production (tracks 5, 6, 11)
• Cameron "Wiz Khalifa" Thomaz – vocals (track 17)
• Kamasi Washington – saxophone (track 15)
• Pharrell Williams – vocals (track 22)

Notes

Release Date:  February 24, 2017 

Recording Location: Chalice Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA 

Genre: Cool jazz funk, jazz fusion, soul

Styles:  Alternative R&B, Electric Jazz, Contemporary Jazz

Duration: 54:25 

Label - Brainfeeder