By: Kyle Rutherford

With the first edition of The Untz Festival coming up this summer, we’re thrilled to showcase some of the bands grinding out new and exciting music for the forthcoming summer festival season. With their new release, Excursions Pt. II, the Denver-based (originally from Phoenix) act Transfer Station is hoping to turn some heads with their brand of funk infused livetronica.

This duo, consisting of producer Scott Rhatigan and guitarist Dylan Gunn, makes music that takes you on a ride through a variety of genres sure to shake any dance floor. With funky guitar riffing, glitchy electronics and upbeat percussion, Excursions Pt. II keeps the listener on their toes song after song.

The release begins with “The Countdown,” groovy midtempo tune with the vocal samplings comparable to the future funk of GRiZ and Pretty Lights. The heavy guitar riffing blended with the substantial synth sounds creates a full tone that is rarely heard in livetronica.

“All Systems Go” is definitely a nod to their old school funk influences, especially with the female vocal sampling and light, simple guitar riffing. The more excessive electronic elements take a bit of a backseat to the guitar sounds for this song, aside from the wonderful appregiated synths complemented by the skillful guitar riffing. Though this one is a bit more stripped down than the rest release, the production quality still brings power to the music.

We get our first look into the duo’s hip-hop influences on “Breaking Through.” It’s practically a reinstrumentation of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s 1999 hit “Got Your Money,” with even more funk thrown in. Though it would have been nicer to hear the guitar and synths given a bit more prevalence, it could have been a mastering issue due to the fact that the song is quieter than the rest of the songs on the EP.

“Zero Gravity” is a solid name for the release’s fourth track, basically due to the fact that it sounds like groovy space rock. The ascending and descending synths throughout “Zero Gravity” mixed with the insane guitar riffing sounds like STS9 or The Disco Biscuits with a heavy metal guitarist. It’s clearly the most epic song on the release and creates an exciting climax for Excursions Pt. II.

Transfer Station bids you adieu with their final track, “Never Look Back.” It has the midtempo feel that we hear on the other four tracks, but is more of a head bobber rather than something you really groove to. The vocal sampling is pretty, and the instrumentation becomes its strong within the last 90 seconds of the song. The underlying electronic sounds are nearly explosive with each few beats and ends with you wanting more.

Buy your ticket and take the ride with Transfer Station. You’ll be sure to enjoy your trip on Excursions Pt. II, and don’t forget to catch their electrifying set at The Untz Festival hitting Mariposa, California from June 2-4!