Published on Jun 29, 2006
Digging up a dozen tracks that were hidden as either
vinyl B-sides, obscure compilation contributions, or songs
originally recorded but not finished until recently, the Flaming
Sideburns return to Bad Afro Records with an appetizer of things to
come. Back To The Grave will whet fans’ appetite for the
band’s new full length record, to be released in October.
Zeroing in on the Detroit rock sound of the late 60s,
this Finnish quartet plunders from deep in the annals of this
gritty rock n’ roll period by extracting lost gems such as “Are You
Ready” by Grand Funk Railroad, “Last Time Around” from the
Del-Vetts, and “Leave Me Alone” by Lou Reed. The sounds are
anchored by the Spanish vocal touch of Eduardo Martinez, who many
feel is the backbone of the signature Sideburns sound. When the
band tackles the James Gang’s “Funk #49,” the result becomes a
stone-cold hip-shaking boogie and is worth an immediate second
spin.
While the band’s willingness to rehash the past is
enjoyable, the best songs are the originals. “Runnin’ On Fumes” has
the same aural appeal that the song “Street Survivor” had in luring
the Toyota advertising partnership a few years ago. Obviously, we
can’t count on an extension of this advertising campaign given the
song title, but the chorus is equally as captivating.
And as expected, the Sideburns again offer appeal to
those who crave versatility. “Bad Moon” is sung extensively in
Spanish, causing listeners to stop and figure out how a how a band
from Finland can land an Argentinean lead singer and pull off a jam
so handsome that you wonder how Martinez would sound singing in
Finnish.
In the end, a Flaming Sideburns album that is half
covers is better than no Sideburns album at all. Ten years ago, the
band was just a house band covering 60s hits in Helsinki, so it’s
not surprising they had all these songs lying around. Compiling
them with a couple of recently recorded tracks from the current
maturation point of the band is the safe thing to do, especially
when their new full-length is right around the corner.