The D.C. quartet were on the vanguard of blending the sweat, swirl and shrewd rhythmic sensibilities of soul to the elbows-up, pedals-down, table-flipping fervor of punk. M'lady's Records is reissuing their quintessential I Want Some on double-vinyl, bolstered into a "definitive" best-of-for the edgy/illusive/energetic rock band.
Lead singer Ian Svenonius has some loose ties to our own underground avant-garde arts scene, namely the UFO Factory, where he's performed a few times in the last five years. One of Svenonius' more recent projects, Chain & the Gang, featured a funk-revivalist tear called "Detroit Music" (Listen here).
I asked Svenonius about this song for an interview, a couple years ago, for Tinymixtapes.com
"Detroit has this incredible music history, as most people know. There’s so much variety and somehow the people there still keep making music. They keep making music, even though, to an outsider, Detroit almost looks post-apocalyptic. It’s crazy how much came out of there...."
...And then, interestingly, the esoteric/lyricist/literati went into an eerily foreshadowing commentary upon "the ruling class" which tinges my mind to topical issues like Super PACs and offshore bank accounts, tax statements and Wall Street corruption. Read more, if you like.
The re-issue will be out in early Autumn.
