Here's the latest Wounded Lion from In The Red Records I picked up at Academy a little while back and I've been meaning to give it a spin. Had a hell of a time figuring out at exactly what speed to play this at. you know with crazy effects, pitch shifting and the like, I actually played this according to instruction (45) and was convinced for a while they were going in a new direction...oh, In The Red...you confuse me, the A-Side is 33 and the B-Side is 45...sheesh guys.
So now I got that sorted out, I'm onto 'Friendly?' Lyrically, as usual, it kills.
Some people are friendly / that's because they're crazy
...and all lyric variations on that rhyme, that's a good way to look at it...so true guys. It's their slow, dredged out dirty persistent 'post-garage' (myspace category) sound all lead by Brad's narrative sung drawn out syllable talk/statement vocals.
Then comes the Wild Man Fischer cover 'Big Boots', it's perfect content for Wounded Lion, they give it a sort of blues explosion sound, howling vocals and fuzz guitar.
The lyrics are of course about boots, a real nice pair the narrator just got, Janet Jackson's got boots, no jacket required. Brad's really blues talking about these boots, pure John Spencer. Turns out this Wild Man Fischer was a Wesley Willis kind of character from LA, who suffers from ROCK 'N ROLL PNEUMONIA! (-Mark Prindle) and wrote this sometime in the 70's before or after his stint with Zappa...he's had a pretty insane, literally, life, and I think is still releasing albums on Rhino records...of course. It's a perfect fit, Wounded Lion would have written this sooner or later, maybe he's a direct influence on Brad's lyrics, it would make perfect sense.
Then the highly anticipated B-Side, CCR's Bad Moon Rising... it's freaking priceless, huge echo on the vocals, standing on the edge of a canyon, wind machines, blasting this sinister take out into the echo. When the chorus hits there's a little octave changer or something to just give it a real off note deep crunch. There's screeching guitars, delay, echo, it's a great swirling mess, like a classic rock vortex swallowing the garage band...It never sounded so evil.
It's a success..he's changed it for me, if you can take an overplayed song like this and give CCR CPR, well that is just plain talent. Just when you think 'Oh Pony People was great, but maybe that was some kind of fluke?' They take a classic cannon in classic rock and wounded lionize it. Wow.
From In the Red Records:
WOUNDED LION Friendly?, Big Boots / Bad Moon Rising 7" single Los Angeles' favorite sons latest single appears on their new home, ITR. One incredible original, one Wild Man Fischer cover and one from CCR. One of the best live bands in the world today. Equal parts VU, Mary Chain, New Creation, Modern Lovers, The Clean and just great music in general. Debut album coming on ITR soon! - In the red
Here's their powerpoint video for 'Friendly?':
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