A few years ago, Drag City released an album’s-worth of killer material by a ferocious punk rock band from Detroit from the ’70s that no one’s heard of. That band was Death, three brothers who got together to play funk and soul, saw an Alice Cooper show, and went headlong into the garage. That first one collected their single and some other tracks, and this companion piece of sorts collects the rest. The 10 tracks on this comp cover the “reel-to-reel” demos the guys recorded in the middle of the decade. “Views” starts off in full “1-2-3-4!!” mode, punk fury with vocals that alternate between Malcolm Mooney like stabs and Gino Washington falsetto. It sounds like the Damned and the like, thrashing away at power chords, pounding out a beat with every instrument. The stomper “Masks” will put a smile on your face after your brain take those few seconds to realize why you “know this song from somewhere.” They totally nicked the melody from the Beatles’ “Got To Get You Into My Life” and muscled it into a corner. Taking a quick turn into quasi-hypnogogia with “The Change,” an instrumental, two-guitar duet changes the mood completely and turns the woolly-rock into something of a psychedelic jam. The three tracks at the end aren’t so much songs, as they are each member noodling around on their instrument. Great noodling, but not really songs (although “David’s Dream” sounds a lot like “The Change”). My vote for the best song on the album though, is “Can You Give Me A Thrill???”, a leather jacket-wearing, jean-knee ripping, sneering, spittle on the audience slice of everything that is Detroit rock ’n’ roll. How these brothers went unnoticed, and almost undocumented, boggles my brain. But with this CD (along with “…For The Whole World To See”), you’ve found that chapter that’s been ripped outta the history books. Listen and learn. (Drag City, www.dragcity.com) Patrick Michalishyn
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989