Perhaps the dominant trend in recent New Orleans party-rock music has been to lean heavily on wah-wah guitars and drum kits. Flow Tribe is an interesting case in point, as their groove pushes funk hard towards its rock ’n’ roll edge. The cover of Flow Tribe’s Now Ya Know updates the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 1991 Blood Sugar Sex Magik.  The image also invokes some 1970s funk iconography, and the band’s addition of saxophone and brass gives them a distinct New Orleans flair, but Flow Tribe’s fusion of rock, funk and hip-hop recalls the Chili Peppers before they started singing ballads more than it does Galactic, Greyboy, or, reaching further back, the Meters.

Recorded live at Tipitina’s uptown on April 4, 2010, Now Ya Know showcases Flow Tribe’s ability to move a crowd—the shouts and responses come from an audience squarely in the palm of the band’s collective hand. Flow Tribe hits the stage with frenetic energy and contagious enthusiasm. Attending their live performance, though, is different from listening to it recorded, where the steady pace of their jams can get monotonous. Although the band sequenced its set that night— which featured a three-song guest appearance from a Real World cast member—for variety and arranged its individual songs tightly, that gets lost between the dance floor and the stereo speakers. Pushing the guitar up front in the mix enhances the groove for the crowd, but it buries the horns and takes some of the color out of the band’s sound. The live recording captures the crowd and the atmosphere, but it does so at the expense of some of the band’s musicality.

Flow Tribe has an innovative take on funk music, and the creative energy that goes into its songwriting and performance pays off when they get on stage. Now Ya Know proves the band has the chops for a full-length release, but it also keeps us waiting for them to go in the studio and make it.