I first heard about Resurrection Records thanks to this La Corde single from last summer and those guys took it upon themselves to grace the 7inches offices with this dangerous single from Oakland CA's Mojo Hand. Looks like a trio of vagrants are on the opposite end of the sand and surf spectrum of the West coast...there's a darker underbelly to all that fun and sun and it has a lot to do with Mojo Hand and this 'very best of' record.
A-Side's "Run with the Pack" is a perfect muddy, surf garage sound that I am immediately a sucker for... when the needle creeps around the spiral to that start of this... I have no idea what to expect and that's how it like it, but when the low end of this rumbles in with everyone singing vocals, it completely sealed the deal. This jamming style surf punk stops just long enough for Harley Rotten to come in with his echo vocal and like a hyped up wounded Lion they have a dirty laid back vibe to me of hard riding harleys all day up in humbolt country...I have no idea what I'm talking about. But that's the scene. A little surfing, no shirts required. A three piece like this is the fucking trinity of rock, making the case for anything else being completely unnecessary. "Never Been Caught". The bass line is key in their work I'm realizing... the feel of this heavy groove is the focus, the guitar is generally the higher almost harmony to reintroduce that melody, but it's secondary..even the drums have to pound away back in behind the baffling. Harley is somewhat less frantic here in a laid-back-settling-the-score slow punk style here. Loose and free, this is that neo easy rider soundtrack to a ripping party. The way they can even say "California" like they mean it. Simple progressions and pure but the attitude sells this one.
B-Side's "Rebecca". I think the guitars heard what I was saying about them on the A-Side and they are the first ones to tear out of the gate here, getting almost fun. A little off for this black leather atmosphere they are cultivating, but the dirty distortion gets a little bluesy here without that nerdy precision, just a drunken stumbly dance with Harley's snarly, slurring attitude, this muffled echo chorus is the best sound ever.
A stones cover? "Let it Bleed" keeps that style intact but turns up the damn volume and echo, improving immensely on the original. It's like they're asking the question if there's still something here? If Natural Child grew up on the west coast and had a predilection for choppers and bandanas, they would have started out playing this Stones covers until an original would sneak in and next thing you know they would be playing a bar after the opening band didn't show up. Turning heads guys... completely inspired classic interpretation. The stoney cavern of a sound booth bouncing into treble makes this sound that much sweeter, putting their own spin on the solo, and you'd better believe this is better than what ol' Keith would have done. Leave it to these guys to not even be bothered with going after the pedestal, just knocking it right over.
Black vinyl, of course, no apologies, wolves and harleys, black and white. Watch out.
No comments:
Post a Comment