The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move... It's the Infectious Grooves

by Steve HueyMike Muir's Infectious Grooves side project allowed him to relax and display his fun, non-political side, and also provided Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo an opportunity to turn loose his formidable funk chops. The resulting debut album, The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves, mixes hyperactive Chili Pepper funk with traditional metal (including an appearance by Ozzy Osbourne on "Therapy") and Suicidal's skatepunk thrash. The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move was an unabashed good-time party record, with songs like "You Lie...And Yo Breath Stank" and between-song sketches featuring a jive-talking, funk-singing reptile named Sarsippius. Not as schizophrenically eclectic as Faith No More, nor as arty as Jane's Addiction, the Grooves' funk-metal is good-humored and full of attitude, without seeming smug or macho; their output was fairly consistent and similar, although this album contains mild MTV hits like "Punk It Up" and is therefore the best first purchase.