Bus Thoughts ~ The Detroit Cobras and Modern Music

Usually I fall asleep for the whole of the bus journey but today I did not because I was thinking. I thought enough thoughts to fill a blog post I think. Do I like any modern music? By modern I mean post-80s sort of stuff. Stuff from bands who are around today and didn't start in the 70s (or before). If someone had asked me that a couple weeks ago I would have said no. I find modern music generally pretty awful because these days anyone with minimal talent and good auto-tune can become a huge star as long as they look the part, while talented musicians are often overlooked because they don't look 'right' or fit a certain 'pop-star' image. One of the things I like most about rock and roll is that it's one of the only genres which is still relatively indiscriminate about looks or age - fans don't really care what you're wearing or how old you are, so long as you play some good music. Of course having a certain image is important, but it's not the only thing that matters in rock and roll (unlike the way the pop industry is headed). Anyway, I listened to some not-so-old things recently and I kinda liked them.

There are a couple of things to mention, firstly Black Honey - finally a current British band that I actually like! I think I found them through Antonia Marsh / Girls Only on instagram. I'd been following them for a while but I only checked the tour dates the day after they played a show near me. Oh well, maybe next time. My favorite track at the moment is "Corrine", their latest single, because the vocal kind of reminds me of Mather Louth (Heathen Apostles). Also, they're an actual band and they play proper instruments, which is always good, and their image and style is great too - they just look really cool without looking like they tried too hard. I also really love the cover art - it has a perfect vintage look which I think goes really well with the music.

Also, this morning on the radio I heard a song called "Silly Boys Breaking Hearts" by local 16 year old singer songwriter Yazzy Chamberlain. I don't know much about her and I've only heard the song once but my first impression was that it was a pretty good track, good vocal, reminiscent of older acoustic music, and from the song it sounds like this girl has talent and probably some good musical influences too - one to watch out for in the future.

That kinda brings me onto The Detroit Cobras, because when I hear a new song on the radio with a female vocalist I automatically want it to remind me of Rachel Nagy, who has an amazing, soulful voice and I think Yazzy had that quality too. I have to admit I've discovered the Detroit Cobras shamefully late, and I'm really surprised they didn't crop up sooner because they've done some brilliant versions of a lot of songs I already knew. I've had "Shout Bama Lama" (originally an Otis Redding song) on repeat for days - definitely keeps me awake on the bus and it's something that I think I could dance to, even though I very rarely dance. The original is great but the Cobras' version is harder, faster, more exciting and really drives it home. They've brought the song right up to date, making it a credible current hit without losing any of the 60s vibe, something that incidentally can also be said of the 60s covers on The Sonics' last album.
It's great to hear a female vocalist with a really good voice sing something like "Shout Bama Lama" or "Stupidity", which of course were originally sung by men, because I think it gives the songs a completely new angle and an immediate unique edge. Their spin on "Boss With The Hot Sauce" (Davis & Jones and The Fenders), renamed "Boss Lady", is a great example, and one of my favorites has to be "Down In Louisiana", a cover of Polka Dot Slim's "A Thing You Gotta Face" from 1964. Their original song "Hot Dog" is so good that you wouldn't know it wasn't a cover, and it also has some of the best suggestive lyrics I've heard since The Cramps. It's also nice to see a female-fronted band that works really well - Rachel comes across as an absolute powerhouse and with Mary on guitar, it's a winning combination.

I think it's rare to find a good band influenced by the music of the 50s or 60s who didn't begin their career in the 70s but have retained that element in their music. There are lots of (well maybe 'lots' is an exaggeration, a few) bands, The Cramps being a very good example, who started out in the 70s and continued making good music that was influenced by the 50s / 60s, and stuck to that throughout, but I think it's rare to find someone outside of that immediate time frame who actually does it really well. That's why I love The Detroit Cobras, does that make any sense at all or am I just rambling?

Lastly, I wanted to mention Jesse Jo Stark. Her new video for "Silver Kiss" has been up on YouTube for a while and recently it's been another song I've had on repeat. It reminds me of something I'm really familiar with but I can't think what it is at the moment. If I remember, I'll let you know (if anybody is still reading this). Another classic rock and roll vocal, raw and powerful, really catchy tune too, you definitely need to listen to this one:

Random footnote on the importance of radio: I don't like most of the music that radio stations play these days, but I do think that radio is still really important not only for new music, but because they need to keep playing old songs otherwise new generations won't hear them. The sort of stuff that they wouldn't find online but might hear if somebody plays it on the radio, so that older songs can continue influencing new generations.