Introducing ... Vulture Whale

Wes McDonald - vocals, guitar
Lester Nuby - guitars, vocals
Keelan Parrish - bass
Jake Waitzman - drums

Welcome to my latest obsession involving Alabama and big guitars. Vulture Whale hail from Birmingham and sound like huge chunks of my record collection bolted the stacks and formed a band. There are moments that remind me of Dinosaur Jr. ("The Waves"), R.E.M. ("Head Turner"), The Neckbones ("Guillotine"), Bare Jr. ("Rainbow Lies"), and both singer Wes McDonald and the band in general have a slinky, sexy, My Morning Jacket thing goin' on. Apparently, vulture whales feed on the flesh of kickass rock bands.

To celebrate my latest investment in 180 gram vinyl ... VW's new, self-titled album, which includes a free digital download, hint hint ... here's a couple songs I've played about 300 times in the last week. If you likes, check out the links below. FYI, Vulture Whale are signed to Skybucket Records, also home to the mighty Dexateens. That would be Alabama for the win.

Vulture Whale - Sugar [purchase CD] [purchase vinyl]

What pop music should sound like. You got the lurching rhythms and angular guitars of early Archers Of Loaf ("Web In Front," "Audiowhore"), girl group harmonies, a brief cameo by the la-la-las from "Trigger Cut," and McDonald holds it all together with a great vocal, like a sans reverb Jim James. In fact, "Sugar" sounds like it might be kin to MMJ's "Just Because I Do." We might need to get DNA samples.

Vulture Whale - Land It [purchase CD]

"I tried to come home once when I was a young man,
I couldn't remember right where I lived ...
Oh Annie, I might crash land it,
I'm not coming in until I figure it out."

Sure, I could talk about the Neil Young & Crazy Horse grandiosity. Or that, as an anthem, this stands toe-to-toe with "Teen Age Riot," "Celebrated Summer," and "One Big Holiday." I could talk about brilliant dynamics, double lead guitars, lyrical rootlessness, and a half-dozen other things. But, the best thing about "Land It" is that it sounds like great sex. Dig it.

Vulture Whale website
Vulture Whale MySpace page
Skybucket website

DexaVision: Caption & Down Low

Here's a pair of videos from one of my favorite bands, The Dexateens. Both songs are from their new album, Singlewide, released last month by Skybucket Records. Fans of The Jayhawks, Faces, Exile-era Stones, and Drive-By Truckers ... pay heed. If you're like me, you might also be thinking, "Wait a second. They still make videos???" Exactly. That's how old-school the Dexateens are. They actually make videos and release albums on the vintage compact disc format. You can't buy that kinda street cred on teh googles.

"If there was a caption on the picture of your life,
Would it tell the story that you tell yourself inside?"





Visit Dexateens website
Visit Skybucket website
Buy Singlewide CD for $12

Tears Of Rage

Photo by Elliot Landy

The Adios Lounge is still suffering from computer problems, not to mention a change in headquarter locations. Because of these administrative realities, I'm pretty much resigned to quickie posts for the short-term future. However, be it known that I'm finally working on the next chapter in the Clarence White Chronicles ... 1970 for those of you keeping track at home ... so expect that in about a month. In the meantime, enjoy this brief foray into the world of The Band circa 1968.

The Band - Tears Of Rage [purchase]

"Tears Of Rage" opened (Music From Big Pink) with a slow (tempo), which was just another way of our rebelling against the rebellion. We were deliberately going against the grain. Few artists had ever opened an album with a slow song, so we had to. At the zenith of the psychedelic music era, with flaming guitars and endless solos and elongated jams, we weren't about to make that kind of album. Bob Dylan helped Richard (Manuel) (pictured above) with this number about a parent's heartbreak, and Richard sang one of the best performances of his life. It had those trademark horns and organ and the moaning tom-tom style of drumming that I've been credited with (inventing) by some observers, but I know that Ringo Starr was doing something like it at the same time. You make the drum notes bend down in pitch. You hit it, it sounds, and then it hums as the note dies out. If the ensemble is right, you can hear the sustain like a bell, and it's very emotional. It can keep a slow song suspended in an interesting way. (John Simon, Band producer/engineer/hornsmith, heard this and started calling me a bayou folk drummer, but not to my face.) As a matter of fact, I found the tuning I used in "Tears Of Rage" by tuning to the flourescent lighting in the studio.
--Excerpt from Levon Helm's autobiography, This Wheel's On Fire, p. 166

Didn't It Rain, Children?

Doing a quick drive-by while I wait for my dying computer to emerge from PC ICU. Sister Rosetta Tharpe makes everything better with badass Gibson SG-laden gospel. Few artists had a bigger impact on the origin of rock 'n' roll, yet remain so inexplicably under the radar. Sister Rosetta was a fierce performer, with a rich, soulful voice, and Chuck Berry guitar licks in the early '40s. She played straight gospel, recorded with jazz orchestras, and sang the blues, mixing the sacred and secular when Ray Charles was still in knee-pants. I'm toying with the idea of a larger post, but for now dig this crazy video from 1964. Tharpe enters the stage via horse-drawn carriage and then rocks "Didn't It Rain" in the rain! Preach on, Sister.