With the Motor City bankrupt, and its iconic Barry Gordy record company gobbled up by megacorporation conglomerate Universal Music Group, the real Motown has left Detroit. Surprisingly, what can only be described as "garage band grunge Motown" has taken root in "The Mistake By The Lake" due to an unlikely band, with a record adapter for a name, that kicks out a combination of nostalgia-tinged 1960's Hitsville, USA and raw garage rock. Rotoscope Records presents Bloodbath Of Fuzz by 45 Spider.
The band is a female-fronted Cleveland, Ohio rock quartet that pounds out a raw sound with all the hearmarks of 1960's Motown with a Heartful Of Garage Band Soul (apologies to The Yardbirds) - great melodies, tambourines, hand-clapping, organ, distorted guitar, driving bass and popping bass drums. Sure, there is that classic groove that will have you up and dancing, but there is more. For want of a better term, there is "grit." Maybe it's the water from the Cuyahoga River or the ashes of Art Modell in the air, I have no idea. (Disclaimer: My only time in Cleveland was spent in the hospital with food poisoning from one of the City's finer eating establishments, the presciently named "Shooters.") Whatever 45 Spider has, it comes off a bit dirty, punky, inner-city dank and blue collar. The new album is aptly named. Infused with infectious melodic grunge rock - the sound is exactly as suggested by its title.
The seventeen track album is full of originals and obscure covers. Played loud, the fuzz should put a buzz in the floor of the upstairs neighbors and make chandeliers draw saw waves across the ceilings below. 45 Spider's sound, however, may not draw many complaints from the other inhabitants . . . and just might start an old fashioned rock 'n' roll dance party.
There is a subtle bow to predecessors in many of the compositions. To my ear there is a touch of the Kingsmen, a measure of Link Wray, a snippet of The Sonics and, of course, a hat tip to The Ramones. No doubt much of this retrospection is due to the guiding hand of Ryan Foltz of Cleveland Audio (Rancid, Tim Armstrong, Travis Barker, Jimmy Cliff, Tiger Army, The Unseen, Lars Fredericksen and the Bastards, Roger Miret and the Disasters) who helped the band polish their sound and then, nutured the creation of the album.
If you want to play those original Kingsmen, Wray, Sonics and Ramones vinyl singles you have to reach for your 45 Spider. However, I'm sure you have heard all of those classic songs a million times before. Therefore, I suggest you leave that vintage adapter right where it is. Instead, grab some 45 Spider and immerse yourself in a Bloodbath of Fuzz.
- Old School
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