Bloodshot's most notable non-alt-country artists
Casey Black
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
For better or worse, Bloodshot Records has over the years become synonymous with alt-country, a genre tag so nebulous that it can comfortably encompass everything from backwoods banjo pickers to punk-inspired bands that don't sound even remotely country. However, during its 15-year history, the label has put out more than just twang. Before the label's 15th-Anniversary Beer-B-Q at The Hideout tomorrow night, The A.V. Club takes a brief look at a handful of our favorite Bloodshot bands that leave the pedal steel at home and probably don't deserve to be lumped into their clunky genre. (Sadly, many of them won't be at the barbecue on Saturday.)
Although garage rock is currently dominating other labels, Bloodshot has only one big capstone of the genre with the Gore Gore Girls. And they don't slather their sound in lo-fi production and unnecessary white noise, either. The four Girls, clad in go-go boots and wielding Gretsch guitars, play licks that could’ve been cut from The Stooges' Raw Power. However, it’s hard to imagine Iggy Pop pulling off one of those headbands quite as well.
Perhaps it isn't fair to list Exene Cervenka as a non-alt-country artist. After all, some of her best work was with The Knitters, a band comprising members of X and The Blasters, who released two albums of rockabilly and country music. But don't expect a repeat of a Knitters album when Bloodshot releases her solo album, Somewhere Gone, this October. Cervenka describes the record as having “the passion of X without all the loud.” Despite her history as one of the reigning queens of punk, Cervenka definitely has some honky-tonk stripes:
It isn’t often enough in indie rock that somebody belts out with Morrissey-like throatiness, “I hope that you catch syphilis and die alone,” as Scotland Yard Gospel Choir’s Elia Einhorn does in “Stop.” The troupe of Chicago natives is one of Bloodshot’s small handful of indie-rock bands (and they’ll be at the Beer-B-Q), but they make the most of it with tight songwriting and fast guitar playing.
The Detroit Cobras are a sharp bunch of audiophiles. The band’s discography is composed entirely of covers lifted from old records, and yet it’s hard to refer to the Cobras as a cover band. Most groups that exclusively do covers try desperately to imitate their predecessors in appearance and sound, but The Detroit Cobras interpret obscure old soul sides with reverence and fresh perspective. It helps that Rachel Nagy’s feisty vocals inject life into the old R&B and garage songs.
Heavyweights like Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck made it mandatory for blues rockers to play meandering solos for 10 minutes, which is why it’s refreshing to hear a guy like Charlie Pickett at work. Pickett is a perfect antidote to the rambling blues guitarists who make you reach for the stop button. His songs are blistering, catchy, and to the point—just as Keith Richards would have it.
