YOU DECIDE!

A couple days ago, I was listening to Nick Curran, wondering why more artists don't embrace the dirty, honking sort of R & B/rock 'n' roll like he does, particularly the type stuff Don and Dewey and Little Richard put out on Specialty.  You might know what I'm talking about, the stuff that sounds like the singer has some wear and tear on their vocal chords, the kind with the dirty sax.  With that still in the back of my head, I happened to be perusing The Slow Drag last night, and came across someone I was unfamiliar with, JD McPherson.  I have to admit, I had to listen to the song a couple of times to shake the image that appeared on the post, one of McPherson sitting in a too clean retro type setting, with nary a beer can or ashtray in sight.  The photo belied the song, I finally hit the stop button until further investigating could be done.

JD McPherson

So, I did a little digging and this is what I found out.  Dude's an artist.  That could be a demerit.  (Nothing against artists, but when they get their hands in anything roots music oriented, particularly if they do it well, you have to wonder if it's some sort of art project they've got going on.) But, he did say this, "There are little subcultures within the roots scene, where people are really into rockabilly, traditional hillbilly stuff or old-timey music, but there aren’t a whole lot of folks making hard-core rhythm & blues hearkening back to Specialty, Vee-Jay or labels like that. That’s what Jimmy [his producer] and I really like, and our only intention going in was just to make a solid rhythm & blues/rock ’n’ roll record." Hmmm. Then I read that Nick Curran's sax player is on his LP.  It was looking good for McPherson.  Just before I was about to complete this slack investigation, I read that his favorite band is the Pixies.  Shit. There will be no demerits for the choice of band, but for confusing the hell out of me, he's on thin ice.  Fuck it, throw in the "further listening" stack.

Nick Curran and the Lowlifes

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen: 
JD McPherson – North Side Gal mp3 at Indieball 
Nick Curran - Kill My Baby mp3 at KEXP
JD McPherson - Wolf Teeth mp3 (via Box.com) at The Slow Drag  
JD McPherson – A Gentle Awakening mp3 at Indieball
Video:
JD McPherson - North Side Gal (Live, acoustic) at YouTube 
Nick Curran and the Lowlifes - No Fun/Shot Down at YouTube Listen to what he's doing with the Stooges.  He's going backwards.  Nut.