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The Grip Weeds: Soul Bender

Grip Weeds Soul Bender Garage rock came out of the 1960s, a form of raw, back-to-basics rock and roll. The gateway drug for garage rock is the legendary collection Nuggets, originally compiled by future Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye and released in 1972 as a two-record compilation of great lost tracks from the sixties. It has since been expanded into no fewer than five four-disc box sets, focusing on America, international, modern, Los Angeles and San Francisco. They represent an alternative view of the history of rock and roll, one where the big bands of the era are only heard through their influence. And it’s possible to hear all those influences in the three minutes it takes to spin out one of these songs. Part of the fun of garage rock is how it teases the ear, reminding you of something else but remaining fresh.

New Jersey’s Grip Weeds, named after John Lennon’s character in the movie How I Won The War, is a modern garage rock band that has just released their ninth album, Soul Bender. They are also in many ways the definitive band in this genre. The influences are there: the jangly guitars of The Byrds, the cascading drums of The Who, the harmonies of the Beatles, etc. But the beauty of the Grip Weeds is that they have assimilated their influences so well that they transcend them. On Nuggets it’s easy to say, “This band sounds like The Yardbirds” or “This could be a Kinks song.” The Grip Weeds sound like The Grip Weeds and simultaneously nobody else and everybody else. Many bands wear their influences on their sleeves. The Grip Weeds have them etched into their DNA.

Soul Bender captures the band at their best. It features the differing patterns of the 1960s in a distinctly modern weave. Released in June of this year on JEM Records and recorded at the band’s own House of Vibes studio, the album is a tour-de-force of melody, guitar crunch, a pounding rhythm section, and exquisite vocals. The result is reminiscent of a time long ago yet also timeless.

From the “Hard Day’s Night”-ish opening chord of the title track to the Odessey and Oracle feel of “Love Comes in Different Ways” the influences are there for trainspotters but make no mistake, this is an original band playing original music. Kurt Reil (vocals, drums), Rick Reil (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Kristin Pinell Reil (lead guitar, vocals), and Dave DeSantis (bass, vocals) have created a heady confection that is one of the best albums of the year (maybe the best).

The music on Soul Bender is varied without ever losing sight of the goal. From the loping duet between Kurt Reil and Kristin Pinell Reil on “Promise (Of The Real)” to the breathy psychedelia of “Column Of Air” to the Byrds-y “Gene Clark (Broken Wing)”, Soul Bender presents what is essentially a hidden greatest hits of a bygone era gussied up with a 21st century sheen and modern production values. The effect is never less than a joyful blast of what the radio should sound like today.

The secret weapon of the band is undoubtedly Kristen Reil. Aside from sterling harmonies and the occasional lead vocal (her voice on “If You Were Here” could have come straight out of Susanna Hoff’s mouth), she’s also an ace guitarist. Her lead guitar adds a level of excitement to the songs, particularly on “Conquer and Divide”, where she steps to the fore and plays two volcanic solos that lean heavy on the whammy bar. There’s a good reason Little Steven’s Underground Garage channel on Sirius named it the “Coolest Song of the Week.”

It’s heartening to hear new music like this. From their first album (House of Vibes) way back in 1994 the Grip Weeds have maintained an astonishing level of consistency in their work. Over nine studio albums (one of them, Strange Change Machine, a double CD set), plus a live album, a Christmas album (!), and a covers album (Dig) the band is still going strong, sounding as fresh now as they did when Nirvana and Pearl Jam were all over the radio. It’s no mean trick to sound so nostalgic and so new at the same time, but they pull it off with memorable tunes, great production, and incendiary playing. The Grip Weeds are the real deal.

Grade: A

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Vintage Trouble: Heavy Hymnal

Vintage Trouble Heavy HymnalIn the world of streaming music it’s virtually impossible for a band to break through into the public consciousness. Artists nowadays hope that their songs will be licensed to a commercial, or a video game, or a movie. Satellite radio exists, of course, but with so many stations to choose from, bands easily get lost in the shuffle. Today, albums are no longer the coin of the realm. The single has returned. Albums are still being made but that almost seems like a tradition more than an expression of artistry. The sad truth is that unless you’re selling (and streaming) in Taylor Swift-like numbers, a band today can’t make much (if any) money based on record sales. Money must be earned on the road, playing large and small clubs and theaters to a hopefully packed house.

In my mind this sets up an unfortunate conflict between the entertainers (the guys jumping around on stage singing their hearts out) and the artists (the guys sitting in a small room agonizing over which chord should come next in the song they’re writing). There’s just no money in artistry these days.

So it is that Vintage Trouble, a band that released their first record way back in 2011, took twelve full years by the time they got to their third album. For context, that’s as long as the Beatles entire career from their skiffle days until their breakup. Sadly, it also appears to be the last Vintage Trouble album, as the band announced that they are “on hiatus” in early 2024. While “on hiatus” can mean many things, their website has essentially shut down with only a message that they are pursuing individual and family endeavors. “We’ll miss you for sure. May we all continue as friends and supporters of one another” sounds a lot more conclusive than “See you soon!”

It’s a shame that this band was forced by the times to spend so much more effort on the road than in the studio. They released only three proper albums (a fourth, Juke Joint Gems, was collected from old recordings and released only digitally), so in the wake of their dissolution we have only a few records to fall back on. Equally sad, their final album, Heavy Hymnal, may be their best, pointing to a bright future that is no more.

More than their previous albums, The Bomb Shelter Sessions and 1 Hopeful Road, this is an album that feels like they’ve got something to say. From the machine gun rapid fire rapping of opener “Who I Am” to the Marvin Gaye-inspired closer “Repeating History” the album is by turns defiant and melancholy, sometimes within the same song. But regardless of the lyrical themes, every song has an infectious groove guaranteed to get you moving. Like all the best soul albums, Heavy Hymnal flows like a party from the boisterous opening salvo of “Who I Am” and “You Already Know” (which features two molten metal guitar solos from Nalle Colt) to the reflective closing of “Shinin'” and “Repeating History” with its mournful guitar solo that evokes Eddie Hazel’s legendary turn on Funkadelic’s “Maggot Brain”.

There are torch songs for slow dancers, like “Not The One,” and the beautiful “The Love That Once Lingered” but the accent here, more than on their previous albums, is on get-your-hands-in-the-air bangers. Elsewhere, the band channels Prince channeling Stevie Wonder (“Baby, What You Do”), explores dance rhythms (“Feeling On”), and even merges a slinky funk groove with power pop (“Shinin'”).

Vintage Trouble was a band with talent to burn. They approached their music fearlessly and in their time delivered three of the best soul/funk albums ever recorded. Their albums stand as testament to a love for music of many different genres. While at their core they were a soul band, they also touched on rap, rhythm and blues, dance music, and rock and roll. In this era of girl pop, streaming, and iTunes, they deserved better.

Grade: A