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On the
JB Stereo
Keith Richards
Crosseyed Heart
The Chills
Silver Bullets
My Dying Bride
Feel the Misery
Gurrumul
The Gospel Album
Bullet For My
Valentine
Venom
Various Artists
Born To Dance Soundtrack
Metallica
Kill 'Em All
Dr Dre
Compton
David Gilmour
Rattle That Lock
Beach House
Depression Cherry
visit THIS MONTH at MUSIC
L et's hear it for supergroups – well, the
idea of them at least. Sure, they more
often than not fail to live up to
expectations – remember the Mick Jagger-Joss
Stone-Dave Stewart folly Super Heavy? – but
there is always the promise that something very
special will emerge from even the most unlikely
of alliances, whether it be Crosby, Stills and
Nash or Them Crooked Vultures.
It’s a concept that has never gone out of
fashion (and probably never will) but it seems
to be enjoying a resumed burst of popularity:
this month sees the release of three new
supergroup albums.
The biggest is undoubtedly the charity effort
Hollywood Vampires, named after the notorious
‘70s Los Angeles drinking den of legendary rockers
like John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon and
Alice Cooper. The latter, together with pal Johnny
Depp, decided that the club should be resurrected
(minus the boozy misbehavior) and over the last
two years an amazing selection of modern day
‘vampires’ have been recording tracks by their
dead friends and heroes. As well as Cooper,
Depp and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, the star-
studded line-up includes Perry Farrell, Dave Grohl,
Paul McCartney, JoeWalsh, Slash and Robbie
Krieger; one of the tracks even includes an intro
from Christopher Lee, recorded just prior to his
death. With a tracklisting that includes classics like
Whole Lotta Love , My Generation and a mash-up
of School’s Out and Another Brick in theWall,
this has got to be worth a look.
The other two albums probably fit more
comfortably into the sub-category of 'indie
supergroup', but if anything they are even more
appealing. The Arcs is the brainchild of The Black
Keys’ Dan Auerbach and includes singer-songwriter
Richard Swift, who has served on an expanded
touring version of the Keys and is also a member
of The Shins; Homer Steinweiss and Nick Movshon
from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings; Leon
Michels, the co-founder of retro R’n’B label Truth &
Soul; and country guitarist Kenny Vaughan.
They are joined on their albumY ours, Dreamily,
by all-female mariachi band Mariachi Flor de
Toloache, and judging by the first single it
should be a cracker.
Meanwhile, JackWhite has resurrected his
side project The DeadWeather, whose third album
Dodge & Burn is out at the end of September.
This indie supergroup is made up of White,
Jack Lawrence – who also plays in another
White-affiliated side project The Raconteurs –
Queens of the Stone Age’s Dean Fertita, and
Alison Mosshart from British garage rockers
The Kills. The latter takes most of the lead
vocals withWhite serving mainly as a drummer,
and this will be a must for garage rock fans.
Incidentally, Keith Richards is no stranger to
the supergroup concept: as well as the New
Barbarians with RonnieWood, he also famously
performed with John Lennon, Eric Clapton and
Mitch Mitchell as The Dirty Mac on Rock and Roll
Circus. Although his latest offering Crosseyed
Heart is a strictly solo effort, there is no shortage
of big name guests: WaddyWachtel, Aaron Neville,
Spooner Oldham, Norah Jones… now that would
make a pretty awesome supergroup.
JB Listener
Supergroups are back with a
vengeance in September.
when the stars align
The Arcs
The DeadWeather
Keith
Richards
54 SEPTEMBER 2015