By James Kelly
If you can get past trying to pronounce their name correctly on the first try, you will quickly be propelled into the world of psychedelic funk. What is psychedelic funk? The answer:
Khruangbin
[ Kruang-bin ] Noun, Adjective, Verb
Meaning: Three musicians creating a kind of marijuana-like serenity in one’s mind that leads to the inability to function; giving zero shits about your problems; funky music.
Use it in a sentence: “Hey! Wanna go see Khruangbin with me?” “I feel like Khruangbin.” “This music is very Khruangbin.”
To save you a Google search: Khruangbin is a musical trio from Houston, Texas. Laura Lee Ochoa, Mark Speer, and DJ Johnson comprise the group. This is the definition of the band in its simplest form, however the meaning of Khruangbin can be whatever you want. The real definition of the word means “airplane” or “flying high” in Thai, which is a great adjective to use when describing a Khruangbin concert experience.
During their latest tour, A La Sala, the group landed in Philly at The Met for two nights. I dragged my friend Chris M., the host of Ctrl. Alt. Delete, with me for one of those nights. This was his introduction to Khruangbin, much like my own when I was first introduced to them. I had never heard of the group when I was first heard them in 2021 at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover.
Hearing a band for the first time ever during a live set has got to be one of the best ways to be introduced to their music and themselves. It is a formal introduction between the band and you that almost goes “hello, we are Khruangbin and we’re going to play you some of our music.” Now, this is very unlike our high-flying trio, as they take to the stage without a word. And proceed to blow your mind.
The Opener: John Carroll Kirby
Unbenounced to me at the time, John Carroll Kirby isn’t just a keyboardist that plays the music you’d likely find in the hot-boxed elevator of a multi-story dispensary – and I do mean live. This guy would be in the elevator with you playing the keyboard. In reality, he is an accomplished musician and producer that has appeared on tracks with artists from Nora Jones to Harry Styles, not to mention countless others in numerous genres.
Alongside Kirby and his keyboard were another keyboardist, a bassist, a drummer, and Newman from Seinfeld, who occasionally switched between a soprano saxophone and a flute. Okay, it wasn’t Newman from Seinfeld, but from where I was sitting he looked like he could pass as everyone’s favorite mailman who lives down the hall. His name is Logan Hone and he’s a very cool dude. Sorry for calling you Newman, Logan.
Trying to keep up with the pace at which my mind was attempting to make sense of their sound, I quickly jotted-down notes to try and capture what I was thinking. Here is what I wrote:
- In the first-person of Kirby – “What if we, people who are exceedingly proficient in our respective instruments, smoked a fat-ass joint and played at the same time and tried to make it all work together?” And thus, the psychedelic woodsy jam-band was born, after a few puffs.
- That’s not a fog machine on stage, no. That’s Pigpen who uses natural resources to get in touch with his creative side.
- It’s all about the room. People want a good time and they’re giving it to them. Granted, everyone here is either nursing a heavy buzz or a decent high. I wish I were among these people. I’d be feeling my way through the M.C. Escher painting of audible-weirdness that is their sound.
Again, much like who they were opening for, it was one big jam session. And just like my introduction to Khruangbin, this live performance was my first time hearing the group. For Kirby’s band, it felt like walking into band practice for the group that plays the Mos Eisley Cantina on Tatooine, only they took a few too many rips off the bong carved from a bantha horn.
Hone (Center) seen here existing between his reality and ours.
The Main Act: Khruangbin
Given that this was the A La Sala Tour, our friends took us through the album and gave us a tour of their latest work. As always, they are the Gods of good vibes. For their new record the vibe appears to be laying on the floor in your favorite room, watching the light streaming through from an afternoon sun as it catches dust particles and casts shadows on the walls. But as the album progresses, it picks you up off the carpet and drops you on the beach with a drink in your hand and the sun slowly sinking below the ocean. There really is nothing quite like Khruangbin.
The Setlist
Once they had played-through all of A La Sala, they took a quick break and returned to the stage to play some fan favorites. They played “Cómo Me Quieres,” “Maria También,” “August 10,” and “Even Finds the Third Room” from Con Todo El Mundo, “Time (You and I),” “Father Bird, Mother Bird,” and “So We Won’t Forget” from Mordechai, and “People Everywhere (Still Alive)” from The Universe Smiles Upon You. They also played “The Number 4” from The Infamous Bill and “The Recital That Never Happened,” from A Calf Born in Winter. For their encore, they played “Zionsville,” also from The Universe Smiles Upon You and “Bin Bin,” which is featured on their Live at Stubb’s album from their concert last year in Austin, TX.
I will be honest, I am a sucker for the popular Khruangbin songs that put them on the map. I love “Time (You and I)” just as much as I love the lesser-known “White Gloves,” which they unfortunately did not play when I saw them. When Chris and I went to see what is now one of my favorite movies, The Holdovers, in the theater the night before Thanksgiving, I thought I heard Khruangbin playing in the scene where Angus and Mr. Hunham went rummaging through an outdoor book sale in Boston. Chris, who was poking fun at my love for Khruangbin, laughed when I blurted out “Is that Khruangbin?” We were the only ones in the theater, it was blissful. Once the credits rolled and proved me right, I was very happy to have another reason to make the movie my new favorite Christmas movie. “A Calf Born in Winter,” from their 2014 single of the same name, had a cameo in the film.
That’s also what makes them so much fun to listen to. Just like I described how they work at any point in the day for any activity, they are also versatile throughout the year for any event or holiday. Birthday party? Khruangbin. Christmas? Khruangbin. Apple picking? Khruangbin. It just works!
So many artists are perfectionists these days, always finding something they wanted to do better or poking fun at how simple their music is. That’s not found anywhere near Khruangbin. The Texas trio doesn’t play music. They are the music. Lots of bands are the catalysts for their sound, but few can personify the music without the use of lyrics. Khruangbin is one of these bands and there isn’t anyone else like them, nor will there ever be.
