There’s nothing finicky about Karate Boogaloo’s third studio album. In fact, the Melbourne quartet set out to keep these songs straightforward, leading Access All Areas to sound clear, crisp, and uncrowded. The band’s instrumental funk and soul has its roots in wordless forebears like The Meters and The J.B.’s, who can captivate plenty without lyrics. Case in point: subtle washes of organ appear across the backdrop of album opener “Butterfly,” before taking center stage in the song’s playful midsection. The snap-tight rhythm section comes through more on “Hooks, Lines and Sinker,” while psychedelic guitar tinges enliven both “Head First”—especially that wah-licked solo—and “AAA.” As closely acquainted as Karate Boogaloo are with the mechanics of funk, this self-produced outing definitely settles on the mellower side. That makes it more of a slow burn, right down to the unexpectedly elegiac closer “We’ve Lost Something We Can’t Replace.” Yet fans of such kindred spirits as Surprise Chef—with whom KB share a member in drummer Hudson Whitlock—should lock right into these unrushed grooves.