words Christian W. Smith, image Danny Clinch

The members of New Orleans-based funk sextet Galactic decided to do something different on their fourth studio album, Ruckus. Rather than kick out the jams, they reeled them in.

Keyboardist Richard Vogel says the band usually writes songs live on stage through lengthy improvisations. This time, however, they spent three weeks in the studio writing, recording and weeding out every sound that wasn't perfect for each song. The result is the tightest, most melodic collection they've put out yet, thanks in part to their producer, Dan "The Automator" Nakamura.

Clearly, Nakamura - the force behind Kool Keith's Dr. Octagon project and a member of the lauded UK virtual pop group Gorillaz - and Galactic make a great pair. The band's tendency toward big funky jams with funny titles like "Hamp's Hump" complements Nakamura's oddball scenario soundscapes, like the Handsome Boy Modeling School disc he cut with Prince Paul in 1999, which was the reason Galactic recruited him to handle production. Ruckus' sound is huge: the guitars crunch, the bass lurches, the sax jabs, and the beats fall somewhere between James Brown and The Chemical Brothers.

Drummer Stanton Moore, who also plays in Garage A Trois, jokes that in order to prepare for their Automator sessions, Galactic "tried to make everything in his likeness." He's only half joking. The distorted drum intro to "Doomed" strikes the ears as pure Automator, but Moore says he's been making noises like that for years, recording his beats into a sampler and running the loops through guitar amps because he likes the effects.

Their take on General Public's "Tenderness" happened on a whim. moore says they were looking to cover a song with solid lyrics that wasn't originally a funk tune "and before we could even get the words out, Dan was like, "Tenderness!" Trust me, it will be great." The band was hesitant, but singer Theryl DeClouet's low rasp transforms the bouncy pop tune into a bluesy soul lament.

with six members pitching in ideas, their debates get heated, so Automator's presence helped. Vogel says, "It's much easier to hear somebody who's not in your band say, 'No, that's not any good. What were you thinking? Forget that.'"