The Underdogs were early adopters in the Michigan rock and roll scene, a bunch of high school students led by bassist and vocalist Dave Whitehouse. An American garage rock band from Grosse Pointe, Michigan who were active in the 1960s. They became a regular attraction at the Hideout, teen dance club that was an early venue for acts such as Bob Seger, Glenn Frey, and The Pleasure Seekers, featuring Suzi Quatro, and it also served as the home to the Hideout record label, which released several of the Underdogs’ singles. The group enjoyed success in the region and came close to breaking nationally with two records released though a joint deal on Reprise Records.
The band only released four singles, of which ‘Love’s Gone Bad’ was the last. Their earlier singles were released on the Hideout club’s own record label, and distributed by Reprise, but ‘Love’s Gone Bad’ was released by Motown. This song IMMEDIATELY transports us to the Hideout and the pandemonium when the Underdogs came on stage!. They were reportedly the first white band to sign to Reprise, and they were given ‘Love’s Gone Bad’, a Holland-Dozier-Holland song that had previously been recorded by another white Motown act, soul vocalist Chris Clark.
I read about the passing of The Underdogs drummer Michael Morgan in 2008. Not many times in rock and roll does a blue-eyed version of a Holland Dozier Holland outshine a soul version, but in this case I have to say it’s awfully good. RIP Michael!
Before he became Patti Smith’s bass player, Lenny Kaye compiled the 2 album set, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era. Released in 1972, the two-LP set covered American garage rock and psychedelia from the years from 1965-1968, and was a major influence on punk rock. Rhino Records reissued an expanded version of the set in 1998, with 118 tracks in total.
Love’s Gone Bad by The Underdogs Release Date: 1967
Although James Taylor released his debut album for the Beatles’ Apple Records in 1968, it wasn’t until his second LP, 1970’s “Sweet Baby James” for Warner Bros Records, that most audiences were introduced to the singer-songwriter. The album, featuring such Taylor songs as “Fire and Rain,” “Country Road,” “Blossom,” and the title cut, was a significant success, commercially–it reached No3 on the U.S. sales chart–and critically–it received a Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year from his peers.
By late 1969, folk musician Henry Diltz had been photographing many of the biggest recording artists in Southern California, in Los Angeles’ burgeoning Laurel Canyon music scene for several years, and had become a top choice for publicity pictures and album cover photos. He famously shot the cover for Sweet Baby James, which remains one of his very favourites. “Peter Asher called me one day and asked if I could come to his house and photograph this guy that he was producing,” he says. After experiencing success as one-half of the British pop vocal duo Peter and Gordon, Asher had become an executive for Apple Records and signed Taylor. He ultimately resigned his position with the label to become JamesTaylor’s manager.
“I went over and as I walked into the living room,” says Diltz, “James was sitting on the far side, sort of behind the piano with his back to the window, finger-picking ‘Oh, Susannah’ on his guitar. And being a musician, it just absolutely blew me away to hear this music box version of the song.” Taylor was still just 21 years old on this December 1969 day. “I couldn’t even believe it. It was angelic,” recalls Diltz. “I kind of sunk down in front of him and asked if he would play it again. The first pictures I took of him, he was sitting there.” The photographer then suggested that they “go outside somewhere” and they went over to a friend of Diltz’s who had a place called “The Farm.”
“It was kind of a musical commune,” he says. “There were little sheds, little outhouses and things. So we took pictures there. It was very quiet. We weren’t talking much. And at one point James leaned on this big post. He’s a tall guy and he leaned on it and it filled my frame… my horizontal frame… in a perfect way. I thought, ‘Holy cow… I’m taking black-and-white, because they wanted publicity pictures.’ “So I said, ‘Wait a minute, James, don’t move.’ “And I picked up my colour camera because in my mind I was thinking I want to show this in my slide shows for my hippie friends and I wanted to show this picture that was blowing my mind.”
“And when Peter saw those, he showed them to Warner Bros. and it became the cover. The art director blew it up, it was kind of grainy, and he cropped it into a square. Inside that was a pull-out, black-and-white, that had the lyrics on one side and it was like 12×24 when you opened it up and on the other side was that black-and-white picture of him from elbow to elbow, leaning on that post as a horizontal shot the way it ought to be. And that’s one of my absolute favourite portraits.”
Sweet Baby James was released just two months after the photo shoot, in February 1970. “Years later, when I see that photo on the wall, I love seeing that picture of James.
THYLA today bring the curtain down on their 2020 by offering us a look into how their 2021 is beginning to shape up. Locked away, like everyone else this year, the possibilities for a live show’s of any description were of course few and far between, if non-existent. When the chance for the Brighton band to film a live set at the city’s famous Green Door Store venue popped up, it provided the perfect opportunity to bring music from their long-awaited debut album into a live setting for the first time. In fact, this live version of new track “Dandelion” is the first song to be made available from the record.
Lead singer Millie Duthie offers these thoughts on the track: “Dandelion” is the angriest track on the album. It was written from a bass and drum instrumental jam which makes the rhythm section the focal point. Danny actually charted the drums out from the original phone recording and the parts were recorded identically on the album. The lyrical message of the track was inspired by work songs sung by female factory workers during WW2. The women used to sing to the repetitive rhythms of their monotonous labour as a way of coping.
First the heel and then the toe” is the first lyric of the song and it sums up our mantra entirely, keep putting one foot in front of the other and we’ll get there!”
Often found between the bric-a-brac and neon glow of their favourite Brighton drinking and planning den The Bee’s Mouth, as Thyla, Millie Duthie (vocals), Dan Hole (bass), Danny Southwell (drums) and Mitch Duce (guitar) find comfort in the sanctuary of their second home. Out of town, they craft explosive walls of sound from within a dock-side warehouse, culling and tailoring the sonic offspring with immaculate attention to detail.
Dance Gavin Dance are a band that don’t really need introduction. Chances are, if you’ve been paying any attention to post-hardcore, alternative or math rock you’ve at least seen their name on a festival flyer or in a compilation. They are polarizing and one of the most love-them-or-hate-them bands within an otherwise palatable genre. If nothing else, however, Dance Gavin Dance are one of—if not the most prolific band in the genre, putting out records that average around 45 minutes seemingly every year. Their latest addition, Afterburner, clocks in at the high end, nearing an hour of riff-driven, artsy-yet-aggressive technically savvy post-hardcore. While the record’s singles have earned largely positive press, the biggest question in the minds of fans and skeptics alike remains: is Afterburner another archetypal Dance Gavin Dance record, or does it see the band breaking out of the hallmark sound and style they’ve crafted for themselves?.
At its core, Afterburner is unmistakably a Dance Gavin Dance record. From the subtle opener, “Prisoner” through “Nothing Shameful” and “Into the Sunset,” Afterburnertakes the same dancy, light-hearted energy that Dance Gavin Dance have built a career on and expands, giving listeners nearly an hour of tracks that balance catchy hooks with segments of scathing, white-hot aggression in perhaps the most fluid and natural manner the band has managed in years. Percussionist Matt Mingus continues to deliver drums that, for lack of a better means of explanation, inspire the listener to drop what they’re doing and shake their ass. This is abundantly true on singles “Lyrics Lie” and “Three Wishes.” However, Mingus’ penchant for subtle technicality and speed aren’t absent—“Into the Sunset” and “Parallels” both see him stepping up his game with percussion patterns vaguely reminiscent of Downtown Battle Mountain’s more metallic cuts.
Meanwhile, bassist Tim Feerick adds bounce and groove in heaping ladles throughout Afterburner, with songs like “Strawberry’s Wake” chief among them. Feerick’s work is an excellent scaffold for the fretwork from Will Swan, who, much like Dance Gavin Dance as an entity, needs no real introduction. Swan’s work on Afterburner is yet another addition to his impressive roster of records his fretwork has graced. While “Parallels” is a heavier and more abrasive cut from Swan, “Three Wishes” and “Strawberry’s Wake” are whimsical, balancing atmosphere and catchy, bouncy leads. Swan’s work behind the fretboard is fantastic as always—even if only a select few songs (“Parallels,” “Nothing Shameful”) see him really doing much different.
Where Dance Gavin Dance have perhaps gained the most variety on a record-to-record basis is with their vocal element. With each new singer, the band have found ways to tweak and tighten up their instrumentation—with Craig, huge choruses and catchy leads dominated. With Travis, more “-core” friendly structure blended into a backbone of funky, dancy rock with near-reggaeton elements. With the addition of Tilian Pearson in 2012, the band’s renewed focus on R&B has taken centre stage—a trend that has continued with Afterburner, to a point. Pearson’s voice is still the soft, buttery croon with moments of rough-but-not-too-roughness that listeners have spent the last eight years falling in love with. His work on “Lyrics Lie,” “Night Sway” and “Parody Catharsis” are examples of his best work yet—while “Calentamino Global” sees him using a different language altogether. Where Pearson is still…well, Pearson, what has changed is the comfort and fluidity with which he works alongside Jon Mess. The screamed and sung components of Dance Gavin Dance’s vocal dynamic hasn’t sounded this strong and natural since their early releases. Where “Parallel” is a Mess-heavy cut, “Parody Catharsis” and “Strawberry’s Wake” are excellent examples of the duo working in harmony—a harmony the likes of which hasn’t hit this smoothly in a decade.
“Afterburner” is a Dance Gavin Dance record. Mess’ lines still make…tedious, if any sense. Pearson’s lines pull at the listener’s heartstrings. Mingus and Swan work as brilliantly together as they ever have. It’s catchy, artsy, bouncy and fun. Where it isn’t a departure from the band’s trademark, it’s perhaps the strongest collection of songs they’ve released in a long time, with barely a skippable moment to be found throughout the hour-long adventure. While it might not have the replay value or nostalgic appeal some of their previous records have, Afterburner sees Dance Gavin Dance working cohesively—a creative unit with all cylinders firing—and creating a strong, solid—albeit safe—contribution to their airtight discography.
Pretty much every duo gets compared to the White Stripes anyway, but there’s certainly a dose of Jack White swagger to the fuzzy edges of opener Spit It Out and the hip-shake and hand-clap groove of Leadfoot.
Howlin’ Back gets even dirtier, but all this bluesy rock flex turns into something more expansive and grandiose, especially in the latter half of the album. The other as-yet unmentioned presence looming over Crown Lands is Led Zeppelin. Unlike other latter day devotees, however, they don’t evoke Zep in their full-on thunderous rock configuration, but rather the more intricate folk-tinged mysticism, which filters through on the textured Forest Song. You’re unlikely to catch vocalist and drummer Cody Bowles singing about squeezing his lemon ‘til the juice runs down his leg. “I don’t need any more ‘Hey Mamas’ in my life,” says Kevin, and these are songs with a little more depth than the primal urge fixation of most proto-hard rock. End Of The Road, for example, deals with the Highway Of Tears, an infamous stretch of road in North British Columbia where a lot of Indigenous women go missing with very little done about it. It gives an extra sense of intelligence and weight that sets this band apart.
We are so excited to release our debut Full Length Self-Titled LP! We made this in Nashville with Dave Cobb and it is an honest document of who we are as a band – tracked live off the floor in RCA Studio A. We did it right with no click or auto tune. We also just debuted the video for lead single Leadfoot. Thanks so much to everyone for their support,
“Spit It Out” and “Leadfoot”, from Crown Lands self-titled debut album out now.
Grammy award-nominated sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell, who record under the moniker Larkin Poe, conjure up music as gripping and visceral as the beating of the tell-tale heart which features in their literary ancestor Edgar Allan Poe’s famous tale. The Atlanta-born, Nashville-based duo grew up on a diet of classical violin and piano, before forming their first bluegrass group (with younger sister, Jessica), the Lovell Sisters, in their late teens. In 2010 they disbanded, rebranded and have, to date, released four albums of raw and powerful roots-rock. A follow up to their last album,Venom & Faith, their newest is Self Made Man which was relesed June 12th.
The first thing which strikes you about Larkin Poe’s music is its power. They have that ‘easy’ heaviness that so many bands strive hard to achieve. The opener and title track kicks off with a drum-and-guitar pulse, paying homage to Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times Bad Times.” It’s a clever reference, further born out by the sister’s lyrics: “I was down and out, now I’m up again.” This is classic, rising and falling blues, turned up to the max. The chorus is infectious, the interplay between rhythm, guitar and vocals, mesmerizing. By the end of the song’s short duration, you know that you are dealing with musicians whose knowledge of, and love for, blues and roots Americana is both genuine and deep. The playfully ironic title of the album and song say much about the sister’s independent spirit.
“Holy Ghost Fire” features more of their excellent guitar-work and soulful, soaring vocals. There’s no showboating here. Larkin Poe possess the confidence and restraint to provide flash where needed, but not to rely on it. Total music is what they are seeking to achieve; that elusive, perfect balance between what is stated and what is implied. “Burn, baby, burn with that holy ghost fire.” Here, the sisters leap from sparse arrangements to ‘wall of sound’ in a manner which in no way feels forced or disjointed. They rock hard, glide smooth and, above all, churn up the blues with an honesty and assuredness that is a delight to behold.
As songwriters, Larkin Poe are inspired. Listen to “God Moves on the Water.” Musically, it thumps along like a heated sermon, rattling and thudding. “Europe, nineteen-hundred and twelve, April, the fourteenth day…” The song recounts tales of natural destruction, from the disaster of the Titanic onwards. “Easy Street,” is a joyful meditation on the painful process of learning by experience: “Times are hard, but they’re real, keep my shoulder to the wheel.” Similar to the most innovative and capable of bands before them, Larkin Poe are able to vary tempo, mood and feel without losing the substance which makes for the identity of the sound.
You have to admire the sister’s determination and self-belief. Even in Georgia, bluegrass can’t have been the ‘coolest’ choice for teenagers, and ever since that decision, they have been determinedly forging their own path. There is a strong sense on Self Made Man, and indeed on all of their records, that Rebecca and Megan share a singular vision and utilise every talent that they possess in bringing that vision to life. It should be no surprise that their music is released via their own label, Tricki-Woo Records.
Not only are they multi-instrumentalists, Larkin Poe also self-produced this album. They’ve done a great job. Particularly pleasing is the way in which they have been brave enough to leave in enough rough edges to give the recordings a gritty, engaging feel. Too many roots recordings these days veer towards a clinical, over-polished sound. Self Made Man, by contrast, manages to be both high-quality and dirty. You can practically hear the dust wafting down Mississippi streets on a hot, swampy day. These same streets, where Howlin’ Wolf and countless other blues musicians played for loose change, are at the heart of Larkin Poe’s offerings. Their appeal generates from their authenticity, and is all the better for it.
‘Holy Ghost Fire” is on Larkin Poe’s 2020 album ‘Self Made Man’, out now!
Paul Weller’s incendiary Mercury Music nominated album “Wake Up The Nation” 2020 remastered edition is out now. Remastered by Jan ‘Stan’ Kybert and Paul himself, “Wake Up The Nation” includes the hit singles – No Tears to Cry, Wake Up the Nation, Find the Torch Burn the Plans, & Fast Car/Slow Traffic. Featuring re-styled cover artwork and packaging (with colour poster ), this version of “Wake Up The Nation” is available on CD and digitally now. The vinyl version is coming early 2021.
Buzzing with guitars and gurgling effects, and built upon a succession songs that barely crest the two-minute mark, Wake Up the Nation doesn’t share much with the follow up “22 Dreams”, apart from that sense of adventure with Weller cramming a suite’s worth of twists into a song. As packed as these tunes are, they’re drawn with crisp lines; for as busy as these are, nothing feels cluttered, they’re all teeming with life. Many of the left turns arrive via the arrangements — witness how everything careens out of control after the chorus of “Grasp & Still Connect,” the elastic psychedelia of “Andromeda,” the updated New Orleans shuffle of “Trees’ — or the unexpected collaborations, whether it’s the tightly wound reunion with the Jam’s Bruce Foxton on “Fast Car/Slow Traffic” or bringing in My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields to craft the dense dangerous heartbeat of “7&3 Is the Strikers Name,” but this isn’t window-dressing: the entire effect is 22 Dreams in reverse, contracting where its predecessor expanded, substituting introspection for action, swapping contemplation for excitement. Wake Up the Nation pulsates with an energy considerably different than the stomping rock & roll of As Is Now.
That was all musical muscle, but this is music of the mind that remains fiercely visceral, music that feels of a piece of Weller’s entire body of work, but is quite unique in its execution and impact.
“I was never happy with the mix on Wake Up the Nation, so when someone pointed out that it had been 10 years since it’s been out I thought it was a good opportunity to try a re-mix on it. I liked the chaos and intensity of the original but I could hear how much you couldn’t hear in it. I think the new mix reveals lots more parts that you didn’t hear in the original while still keeping the energy.” – Paul Weller
Wake Up the Nation was the tenth studio album from Paul Weller and was released on 19th April 2010. It was nominated for the 2010 Mercury Music Prize. The albums was dedicated to “absent friends – John Weller, Pat Foxton and Robert Kirby. It is the first of Weller’s albums since 1982 to feature contributions from Bruce Foxton, formerly of The Jam. Weller told Mojo magazine: “We’d both lost loved ones and without getting too spiritual that was the spur of it. I spoke to him this time last year when his wife Pat was ill and that broke the ice, then I invited him down to Black Barn (studio).
There was no big plan, it was easy, a laugh, and nice to see him and work together again. We just slipped back into it.” Wake Up the Nation received great acclaim from most music critics. In Metro, John Lewis awarded the album 4 stars out of 5 and commented: “Since turning 50 two years ago, the Modfather seems to be making the most adventurous music of his career, astounding even the most Weller-phobic critics … Most of the 16 tracks are short, sharp, clever and often wonderfully odd: check out bonkers music hall epic “Trees”, “In Amsterdam” or militaristic sound collage 7&3 Is The Strikers Name (an unlikely collaboration with My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields). Weller loyalists will be reassured by the copper-bottomed dad-rock staples, while Style Council fans will love Aim High, his finest blue-eyed soul ballad in ages.
“It’s perfect,” Joe Strummer insisted about The Clash’s fourth album, the sprawling, 36-song triple album set, “Sandinista!”, over beers in an East Village bar back in the early 1990s.
While Strummer’s tongue was firmly in cheek, he wasn’t backing down on his claim. He loved his former band, and Sandinista! loomed large in the legend about everything they stood for – the good and the bad, planting feet firmly in the future while still honouring the past, not to mention both their collective creativity and rock star excess – and still stands today as a remarkable, if beguiling, achievement.
Featuring forays into everything from jazz and gospel to hip-hop and rockabilly, Sandinista! was the ultimate rock and roll indulgence by a band that had only just started to crack the big time after releasing the near-perfect double album London Calling, which still stands as both their greatest moment and their manifesto. “Sandinista! represents an amazing moment in time for us,” Strummer recalled that afternoon. “In less than a month, we recorded all that music.”
For all the genre-hopping and experimentation across its six sides of vinyl, Sandinista!, which actually took about six months to record and was named in honour of Nicaragua’s freedom fighters, featured an astonishing amount of highlights. The Eddy Grant/Equals cover “Police on My Back” and “Somebody Got Murdered” were instant hits with the AOR rock crowd. “Bankrobber”, “The Call Up”, “Hitsville U.K.”, “Washington Bullets”, “Ivan Meets G.I. Joe”, and “The Sound of Sinners” picked up where London Callingleft off. Meanwhile, “Junco Partner” and “One More Time” – bearing the heavy influence of co-producer Mikey Dread – whetted the appetite of many of the band’s fans who were only just discovering reggae in a serious way.
But perhaps more than any other song, it was the lead-off track, “The Magnificent Seven”, that epitomized everything Sandinista! was about and all it has come to stand for in the now 40 years since its release on December 12th, 1980. The first foray by a rock band into rap — predating Blondie’s “Rapture” by almost six months – it’s also one of the earliest examples of a hip-hop record with political and social commentary. Built around a loping bass line (played by Norman Watt-Roy of Ian Dury and the Blockheads), those lyrics picked apart the human cost of capitalism, as Strummer chronicled a day in the life of a minimum wage supermarket employee.
Bruce Springsteen performed with the E Street Band for the first time since the pandemic began — and for the first time, not counting private studio sessions, since February 2017 (!) on December 12th, on “Saturday Night Live.”
They performed the songs “Ghosts,” the second single from Springsteen’s recent “Letter to You” album, in the show’s first musical slot. Springsteen seemed to be enjoying himself, smiling and laughing often. The song became most dynamic at the end, when Springsteen let pianist Roy Bittan, saxophonist Jake Clemons and and guitarist Steven Van Zandt take brief solos. But it ended only moments later. While the seemed a little tentative on “Ghosts,” especially early in the song, their second song — “I’ll See You in My Dreams” (another track from Letter to You), performed later — seemed smoother and more assured.
Jack Daley, of Little Steven’s Disciples of Soul band, played bass in place of original band member Garry Tallent, who did not make the trip to New York from his home in Nashville. And violinist Soozie Tyrell did not perform with the band.
Springsteen shared the following message on social media, December. 10th: “We’ll be missing our great bass player Garry Tallent and our compatriot Soozie Tyrell on Saturday night due to COVID restrictions and concerns. Garry and his family are fine as is Soozie, but we thank Jack Daley of the Disciples of Soul for sitting in.”
Garry Tallent Tweeted the next day: “I don’t have the Vid and intend to avoid catching it. Stay safe and weigh the risk/benefit for whatever you do. I personally felt that a two song TV appearance was not worth a week long stay in NYC. Thanks for your concern.”
I believe this was the first time in the entire nearly-50-year history of the E Street Band that they have made an appearance with a bassist other than Garry Tallent.
On his astonishing debut album “Live Forever”, Bartees Strange shapeshifts across songs with grace and charm, winning over even the most jaded listeners. In the album’s first section alone, the Washington, DC-based musician gallops through gut-wrenching indie rock on “Mustang,” floats airy rap over post-punk on “Boomer,” and waxes R&B dreams-turned-poetics on “Kelly Rowland” — the juxtaposition of which turns Live Forever into a revitalizing expanse. In many ways, it’s the sound of Bartees Strange building the world he’s always wanted without realizing it was even possible to do so, or that so many listeners want to join him there.
If the only thing you knew about Bartees Strange was that his debut EP, “Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy”, was comprised entirely of The National covers, you would probably draw some conclusions about what Strange’s music sounds like—and, given the specificity of The National’s niche, understandably so. “Come to a place where everything’s everything,” Bartees Strange sings on “Jealousy,” an apt description of a debut album that grabs from emo breakdowns, hip-hop cadences, indie-rock riffs, glitchy production and gentle minimalism. Though many of the songs are about feeling hemmed in, Live Forever is purposefully expansive, grounded in a singular vision. “These songs make sense because I’m Black and because my voice ties these songs together,” he told NPR Music. It takes conviction to gesture, as the title does, toward immortality, especially in a music industry that has never adequately valued Black musicians, that insists on categorization (“Genres keep us in our boxes,” he bemoans on “Mossblerd”), that says putting all your chips on your art is too big a risk. Luckily for us, Bartees Strange has it.
But your assumptions would almost certainly be wrong. Sure, Strange can summon the same pulse of The National’s most kinetic anthems (see “Mustang,” which in a different era might have been a breakout hit). But his debut album, Live Forever, bristles at the idea of slavish adherence to a formula, even one as sturdy as The National’s. The D.C.-based songwriter has a broad swath of influences; Live Forever slinks through countless genres, blending energetic hip-hop, dynamic indie rock, amorphous jazz, and sinuous R&B with the confidence of an expert in each.
It’s unusual to see so many familiar elements joined in such a singular way. While Live Forever has the ambition of a newcomer, highlights like “Boomer” and the gleaming menace of “Flagey God” are the work of someone who knows exactly what he is doing.
Bartees Strange is a producer and songwriter in Washington, D.C. His mother is an opera singer. His dad served in themilitary for decades. He travelled widely for his parents jobs — born in Ipswich, England 1989, his family did stints in Germany, Greenland, and a number of states across America before he hit his 12th birthday when they settled down in Mustang, Oklahoma
The Fat Angel Sings 