At one time, it was almost possible to know what you were getting from singer-songwriter Denny Smith from the get-go. If he’d written a bunch of songs with alternative rock leanings, then chances are they’d be released by his rock band fORMER; if the music took a more retro/acoustic groove, it would go onto the pile designated for The Great Affairs. Obviously, things weren’t quite as simple as that, but there was always a clear divide between projects and styles. After The Great Affairs released their ‘Happy Ender’ EP and Smith considered resting that band, things got more complicated: fORMER released a selection of unheard material (‘The Kids Deserve Cable’) and The Great Affairs were reborn. On the ‘4’ EP, The Great Affairs mixed up styles more than ever – alongside the Tom Petty/Black Crowes styled tunes, new drummer Kenny Wright (formerly of Bonepony and various other acts) penned ‘Fists and Guitars’, a thunderous rock ‘n’ roller fairly far removed from the quieter shades of most Great Affairs material. With fORMER dead and the revitalised Great Affairs tackling whatever came naturally, it seemed the gloves were off.
Tag Archives: retro
FUNKYJENN – Rock ‘N’ Roll Voodoo Queen
You know what they say – if you don’t want your music to date, make music with an old heart. It’s a game plan that’s stood The Black Crowes in good stead for many a fine record; nor does it hurt so many blues-rock bands out there whose work draws its main thrust from The Stones and The Faces, circa 1971. For blues and bar-room rock, that seems to be the point where everything stops…and miraculously rarely sounds dated and oft retains a vigour that sits at the heart of so much great good-time r ‘n’ r. Jenn’s sound is made of such classic stuff: each of its elements instantly familiar, warming and welcoming – and ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Voodoo Queen’ all the better for it.
New Xmas track available from The Connection
To kick off that Christmas spirit, New Hampshire’s premier garage band The Connection (featuring the almost legendary Geoff Useless) have some festive cheer for you. A new track ‘Christmas Time Again’ can be streamed (for free) and/or downloaded (for a measly $1) from the official Connection store, via the link below.
THE 1957 TAIL-FIN FIASCO – The Cruise Control EP
Having already released their ‘Private Jet Flashback’ album at the beginning of the year, 2013 proved very busy for Essex-based pop rockers The 1957 Tail Fin Fiasco, as they also dropped this EP of extra material in the autumn. It’s not clear whether it ought to be regarded as a companion piece to the full album or treated as a stand-alone EP in its own right, but what is clear is that this is a band you should not miss. This raises the bar with regard to how something self-released should sound sonically, while musically the band Indulge in a whole cavalcade of 70s pop sounds, that’s absolutely thrilling in its all too knowing retroness.
THE BEAT RATS – Have Mersey!
As far as homages to the early Beatles are concerned, The Rutles will always be the best loved, but then their songs were strongly modelled on the already very familiar. As superb as the parody evident in the likes of ‘Number One’ and ‘Goose Step Mama’ may be, they will always be just that – parody. On this, their second disc, New York’s Merseypunk pioneers Beat Rats show they clearly love The Beatles’ early work as much as Neil Innes does, but although the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll prevail, they’ve been far less tempted to use obvious existing templates to create their brand of fun. As far as celebrating the sounds of the very early sixties are concerned, you won’t find much that’s more authentic sounding.