The Morlocks
have been keeping the flame of garage band rock alive for some 26 years now. The band is based in L.A., where it has a small but rabid cult following. The band has no illusions of fame and fortune and hews steadfastly to the lo-fi, murky production quality of the mono recordings of the late '50s and early '60s. As you probably guessed from the album title and the cover art, which mimics the distressed cover of a beloved LP that's been taken down from the shelf so many times that you can see the record showing through the cardboard cover, this is a collection of tunes made famous by the artists who called
Chess Records
home, and a few that didn't.
John Lee Hooker
's
"Boom Boom"
first came out on
Vee-Jay
, and helped lay the foundation for rock.
perform it as a big, rumbling rave-up that owes little to
Hooker
or
the Animals
, the band most youngsters copy when the play the song.
Chuck Berry
"Promised Land"
dumps all the
Berry-isms
from the guitar work and sounds like
the Ramones
backing
the Beach Boys
, with singer
Leighton Koizumi
snarling like the young
Iggy Pop
.
Berry
"Back in the U.S.A."
gets deconstructed into a grungy groove that almost dispenses with the melody in favor of a big, thundering wall of rhythmic sludge. They introduce
Sonny Boy Williamson
"Help Me"
with the opening riff from
the Who
"My Generation"
before dropping into a measured, back-alley grind.
Little Milton
"Feel So Bad,"
later a hit for
Elvis Presley
, gets a forceful performance marked by
Koizumi
's almost unintelligible vocal and
Bobby Bones
' unruly guitar. ~ j. poet