This season, our Secret Santa (shh, don't tell - our Secret Santa is Filthy Funk) gave us the gift of "Eklectric," the new genre-spanning-but-always-groovy album from the trio. However, "trio" only begins to describe this group. Much of the appeal is its ability and willingness to pick a vocalist to fill out its sound, and use the instrumentation to put that vocalist's skills on display.

I arrived at the CD-release show at The Dub Land Underground Saturday night to see Gonculator rocking out to a packed house. A packed house by 11 p.m. for a show that was set to go until 2 a.m. told me that I was in for something. Friends have been telling me about Gonculator for some time now, but this was the first time I've seen the band. These hip kids flipped styles like indie, funk, and even metal without the unnecessary irony some bands feel the need to include. There's no need to convince your audience that you're unconvincing just to play what you want to play. With that in mind, I greatly enjoyed the choreographed head bobs that went along with said metal. I'm not sure if "bob" is most metal adjective for the move, but it was halfway between a "head nod" and a "head bang." Gonculator is clearly a skilled group with a wide range of influences.

Filthy Funk kicked off its set by highlighting the lyrical swiftness of Hassaan Mackey, Rochester's mad scientist of rap. It was the first piece of bread in what turned out to be a hip-hop sandwich. This meaty, spicy, and at one point cheesy dish saw Filthy Funk convincingly jump all across the board, touching mainly upon funk (as one would assume from the name), soul, rock, and even a couple reggae jams. Danielle Ponder was the band's featured vocalist of the evening, performing on most of the songs of the night, as well as the album. Her lyrics aimed for the head, while their grooves went right to the hips. Highlights included Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady," the "Greatest American Hero" TV theme song, and the top piece of bread in the hip-hop sandwich, the encore. The band chose to leave us all with Lauryn Hill's classic "Doo Wop (That Thing)." By this point everyone had been convinced of Filthy Funk's musical adeptness, and everyone had gotten their fill.