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Thermonuclear Sweat is an album by the American jazz group Defunkt.[2][3] It was released in 1982 via Hannibal Records.[4][5] The group broke up after the release of the album, reforming in 1986.[6]

Thermonuclear Sweat
Studio album by Defunkt
Released	1982
Genre	Jazz, funk, punk[1]
Label	Hannibal Records
Producer	Joe Boyd
Defunkt chronology
The Razor's Edge (1981) Thermonuclear Sweat (1982) In America (1988)

Production

The album was produced by Joe Boyd.[7][8] Aside from the leader and trombonist Joseph Bowie, the guitar player Kelvyn Bell was the only other member who had played on the debut.[9] Vernon Reid played guitar on six of the album's tracks.[10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[11]
Robert Christgau	B+[12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide	[10]

The Washington Post wrote: "As a dance band, Defunkt is best at break-neck rhythms—'Illusion', the tongue-in- cheek, feet-firmly-in-the-groove 'Avoid the Funk', and the boppish escapade and tribute to Charlie Parker, 'Big Bird (Au Private)' on which the band's jazz roots are well displayed."[1] Trouser Press called the album "sweeter-sounding and jazzier" than the group's debut.[7]

Robert Christgau lamented that the group's cover of "For the Love of Money" "sounds like slumming, especially from a guy who couldn't outsing Kenny Gamble in the shower."[12] The New York Times thought that "when this band plays funk, it plays hard, dance-floor funk, with a cavalier disregard for the pop sweetening most funk bands add to their records in order to get radio play and hits."[9]

Reviewing the reissue that paired Thermonuclear Sweat with the debut, The Independent called the albums "groundbreaking" and among the 1980s' "alternative essentials."[6]

Track listing

References

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