The Present Day Garage Band Refuses to Die

Alert readers will recall that last week I posted a clip of a relatively obscure Flying Burrito Brothers tune and opined that "The eighth-note feel makes it almost seem like a proto-New Wave song, something these guys -- about whom much more in a post tomorrow -- noticed and made explicit in a terrific cover back in '93."

Even more alert readers (perhaps those on crack cocaine -- hey, you know who you are!) will recall that tomorrow came and went (due to the pressures of the Jewish holiday) without such a post.

So...better late than never, here they are, the Pride of Springfield, Missouri -- the fabulous Skeletons!



If you don't know them, the deal is that they're essentially an American version of Rockpile, but with way more catholic taste; if there's a cool song in just about any rock related genre from rockabilly to girl group to Brit Invasion to punk, they not only know it but can play the bejeezus out of it (especially roots-rock guitarist extraordinaire D. Clinton Thompson, as you can tell from the video). They've been at it in various incarnations (including a stint as the Morrells) now for close to thirty years, releasing scads of brilliant singles and albums, including an astounding one where they backed up downtown alt-rock chanteuse Syd Straw. Just how great are they? Suffice it to say, if I was throwing a party and I could afford to hire any band in the world, I'd hire these guys, and I say that as someone cognizant of the fact that NRBQ is still doing business.

You can find more about them here and let me just add that if anybody wants to get me the Morrells album shown on the right for my birthday, I wouldn't say no.