Skip to main content

Review: Love And Let Die by The Stone MGs

I absolutely loved The Stone MGs previous release, the three track EP Good Times, and I was eager to hear more music from them as soon as possible. Their brilliant clash of Motown Soul and Garage Punk was a complete breath of fresh air at time when truly great new rock'n'roll is tricky to find. Their songs were so well crafted too that it was hard to believe this was a new band taking their first steps. With Love And Let Die, their brand new single, The Stone MGs have written their catchiest song yet, and it shows just how much these guys have to give to music.

“Uh!”

And it begins, singer Rodney James belts out a powerful grunt and the tune kicks off. Instantly we're met with a funky punk'n'roll concoction with a plethora of layered instrumentation. The guitar is spiky, the bass is percussive and the drums are tight and groovy. It's a tune that may appear simple on the surface, but in actuality it's quite intricately detailed and as such it probably sits better as a monument to the garage rock revival of the early 2000s than the sounds of the original 60s movement. I can easily imagine members of The Strokes or The Rapture jamming this tune on DJ sets in tiny Brooklyn clubs splashed with the odour of Jack Daniels and Marlboro Lights, leather jackets dotted with glitter reflecting in the dim disco lighting.

The beat is so addictive it's almost impossible not to move your body to this tune. The Superstition style funky harpsichord sounds both referential and totally fresh, and the guitar licks dart and dive throughout the verses throwing fragments of grit in your face as they go past. Rodney James's vocals are deep and soulful, but there's a real note of joy to his delivery too; he's clearly having a lot of fun with this tune and the vocal performance comes across as poised, confident and utterly carefree.


The chorus is an explosion of tension, the guitars and drums going into full swing as the vocals hit a brilliant falsetto. The “ooo ooooo” backing vocals are perfectly placed to emphasise the best moments of the hook. When the track breaks down into a softer funky jam, the suspense quickly builds before there's an even bigger release, the chorus kicking back in with an added sense of wild joy. As the song heads towards it's conclusion the band just let rip, all the instruments flailing and wailing towards the finish before suddenly crumbling into dust.

This isn't just the The Stone MGs catchiest song yet, this could genuinely be their breakthrough. Rock'n'roll needs a band like this right now; fearlessly retro but with an effortlessly modern production style that adds the kind of nuanced layering you often need to turn a catchy tune into a great song. With all the earnest self-indulgence that some of the last generation's greatest rock bands have been peddling in recent years (I'm looking at you Arctic Monkeys) a band like The Stone MGs feel like such a rush of excitement. They're not just playing retro inspired music, they're bringing that music forward into a new era and making it wholly their own. I cant wait to see what these guys could do in the future, whether they stick to singles or put together a whole album. I really hope that increased recognition starts to come their way too, because if you like rock'n'roll and haven't heard The Stone MGs yet then you are truly missing out.

Listen to Love And Let Die and more from The Stone MGs on their website here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview: Eneko Artola

In a relatively short time Eneko Artola has gone from an unknown figure with a passion for music to one of the most notable new producers in house and music today. His background is fascinating, and his rise is one that seems to be nowhere near it's peak yet. His music combines the kind of soulful, vocal-led house music popularised a few years ago by the likes of Duke Dumont, Disclosure and Swedish House Mafia, and through the latter half of the 2010s has developed into the Electro-Chill and Tropical House scenes. Eneko puts a distinctive French twist into his sound though, reminiscent of some of the French House artists like Cassius or Justice, and it's a sound which has helped him gain some remarkable traction in such a short time. Based in London, the 20 year old originally hails from the French area of the Basque Country; but his travels have taken him beyond Europe, spending time in Canada and China before coming to the UK. In the first part of this interview we talked abo...
1 comment
Read more

Review: Voodoo Macbeth by The Judex

In the modern age, garage rock is one of those genre tags which manages to be somewhat intangible yet also quite specific at the same time; you know the kind of sounds to expect, yet it's also quite hard to pinpoint exactly what defines those sounds as garage rock. Sure there's fuzzy punk rock guitars, relentlessly loud drums and booming rock'n'roll vocals, but then you could say that about any number of genres. The nature of garage rock is more in it's historical outlook, and the utilisation of influences from a bygone era. That doesn't mean garage rock should be a genre reserved specifically for a niche subculture though, because while there is a rich fandom around the style, the best garage rock bands are those who can, musically at least, transcend some of the clichés inherent in those vintage tropes. This is where we find Philadelphia natives The Judex, a four piece whose intense form of garage rock blends in elements from blues, soul, rockabilly and punk. ...
1 comment
Read more

Review: At The Boiling Point by Marshall Oakman

There's something about boogie-woogie in it's modern form that is incredibly joyous. The melting pot of blues, rock n roll and r'n'b that defines the style is infectious but, certainly for those of us in the UK at least, it's rarely heard outside of Jools Holland's TV show jams. And when you do hear it, it's rarely done as well as Marshall Oakman's At The Boiling Point, an instantly catchy and remarkably well composed track that hits every mark a great modern boogie-woogie track should. Marshall Oakman may not be a familiar name, but over his extensive career the New York based musician has forged an impressive path not only as a talented songwriter but also a tremendous performer, with a strong reputation across the Eastern US. For his latest single he has enlisted the help of fellow New Yorkers Kasim Sulton on bass, Liberty DeVitto on drums and Paul Pesco on guitar, all of whom come with fantastic experience and provide skilful playing on the track. At...
Post a Comment
Read more