Summary.
The Fleshtones
went beyond genre-bending: they turned rockabilly, garage-rock, surf music
and horror soundtracks upside down in what was basically an exercise in
post-modernist art.
Led by keyboardist Peter Zaremba, they injected punk effervescence and
irreverence into structures that were meant for pure party time.
Their anthemic American Beat (1979) could be the most representative
song of the "Sixties revival". Roman Gods (1981), an album that
stands as a tribute to the subconscious of an era, coupled the verve of
punk-rock with martial and solemn tones in
both instrumental tracks and catchy tunes.
The music on albums such as
Hexbreaker (1983), which played down the rebel attitude in favor of
Phil Spector's "wall of sound", and Fleshtones Vs Reality (1987)
managed to be both visceral and epigonic, to project both frustation
and nostalgy.
Full bio.
(Translation of my original Italian text by Paolo De Gregorio)
The Fleshtones were one of the best examples of a band that managed to recycle a sound of the past for a newer generation. They did so by filtering the early rock'n'roll sound of the 1950s and 1960s through the punk approach of their time; thus forging songs that somehow sounded more current and involving than most of the "new" music of the 1980s.
The New York band, led by singer / keyboardist Peter Zaremba, emerged during the "American Graffiti" era the late 70s to early 80s. Their songs were obviously influenced by rhythm and blues, surf, and rockabilly. The rebellious essence of those genres found an ideal update in the frenzy of punk music even though many musical elements seemed to tie the band to its actual roots: Gordon Spaeth's scratchy saxophone that recalled many old rhythm and blues bands; Zaremba's "acid" organ and blues harmonica; the upbeat rhythm section; Keith Streng's fuzzy guitars and riffs drenched in vibrato; and easy hooks and "hey hey / sha la la"-style harmonies, reminiscent of girl-groups and the soul music from Tamla. It was party music for the tormented punk generation, derived from the stereotypes of the light and mindless party music of the 60s.
Their masterpiece song "American Beat" (1979) sounds like a sped up aggressive gospel, a sort of extended hymn a la the Animals. "American Beat" is one of the best songs that can be filed under the category "1960s revival".
"Roman Gods" (IRS 1981) is another spectacular example in this style: derivative but irresistible, passionate and involving. "Right" (an unstoppable garage-rocker) and "Roman Gods" (an almost epic instrumental) are obvious references to the music of the 60s. This tribute reaches its zenith with "Let's See the Sun," a memorable reinvention of surf music. Many other tracks sound like eccentric mutations/variations on those same premises from the rockabilly march of "World has Changed" to the Animals-esque hymn "I've Gotta Change My Life." The epic aura and tribal hints of "Shadow Line" that recall the Talking Heads' neurotic rhythms and the silly soul march of "Stop Fooling Around" (so reminiscent of Paul Revere) contribute to make this album one of the masterpieces of the decade, one of those records that managed to renew once more the recurring white re-interpretation of black music - i.e., the real essence of rock and roll. Peter Zaremba, by selectively recovering and dismissing elements of that early sound, found his own original and powerful songwriting style - which can be called rock'n'roll revival only on a superficial level.
The band partially grew out of that high school exuberant approach with "Hexbreaker" (IRS, 1983), a more mature record where the focus seems shifted towards the arrangements, flirting with Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound." Still, the Fleshtones trademark mix of aggressive nostalgia ends up producing the best results, with deceptively-simple songs that once again reference the stereotypes of the early rock and folk genres, including Merseybeat and the classic instrumental novelties of the time.
The album is like an out of control party starting with the hooks of "Right Side Good" (with its claps and hysterical falsetto), and proceeding through the passionate rock'n'roll "New Scene", "Deep in My Hearts" epic surf and "Burning Hells" rebellious gospel. The Fleshtones also seem to flirt with soundtracks of those movies and TV series that somehow reincarnated the forbidden myths and dreams of the youth of that generation. The pompous pace of the title-track, the grotesque and macabre boogie of
"Screaming Skull" (with its solemn organ riffs, monstrous sax counterpoints and menacing choir), the idiotic r'n'b instrumental "Legend of a Wheelman," all recreate a sort of psychological trip inside the stream of consciousness of the average adolescent. But their records could be almost seen as essays on semiotics rather than philology. The "signs" analyzed and revitalized here are the guitar fuzzes and reverbs, the vibratos and tremolos, the sax and organ slashes, the clapping, the falsettos and the blues harmonica solos. The amateurish wild attitude of bands like the Animals, Yardbirds, Standells, and Sonics gets dismantled in the Fleshtones' almost baroque formal grid, where the various instruments' tones are the main coordinates.
The Fleshtones' repertoire of memorable melodies and rocking party tunes has few equals in the history of rock music.
(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
Speed Connection II (IRS, 1985), recorded live replete with background noise and crackle, crowned them as New Yorks ultimate bar band, worthy of their Yardbirds model, with grand harmonica and saxophone solos and runaway rhythms (Return To Haunted House).
Zarembas new classics were: a scorching Turn Me On Again on Spread The Word (Moving Target, 1986), credited to the Love Delegation, and on the inferior (and much more electric) Fleshtones Vs Reality (Emergo, 1987), which nonetheless boasts the most furious boogie of their career, Way Down South (paired with the Byrds-like folk-rock of Way Up Here) and the epileptic Whatever Makes You Happy.
Living Legend Series (A&M, 1989) is perhaps the best anthology of the period, featuring a revised version of American Beat.
The Fleshtones said all they had to say in the first five years of their career, but Powerstance (Naked Language, 1992) proved they were not entirely dead.
Five years after the ill-fated Vs Reality, the album restored Zarembas standing with the instrumental Candy Ass and the anthemic Armed And Dangerous and Let It Rip.
Take A Walk, Whistling Past The Grave, and the title track are the jewels of Beautiful Light (Naked Language, 1994), faithful unto death to the classic style but with the addition of healthy doses of psychedelia (Mushroom Cloud) and rhythm and blues (Pickin' Pickin' and Outcast).
Laboratory of Sound (Ichiban, 1995) is an album more blues and soul than in the past (Train Of Thought recalls the Rolling Stones), but in the end the most explosive numbers still win out: Let's Go, Hold You, Accelerated Emotions, Nostradamus Jr, A Motor Needs Gas.
Peter Zaremba had not changed much twenty years after his debut. I'm Not A Sissy and God Damn It on More Than Skin Deep (Ichiban, 1998) shine with the same passion and fire as the classics of old. The lineup now includes Bill Milhizer (drums) and Keith Streng (guitar), but the show is always Zarembas, who cannot resist dedicating the instrumental Blow Job to oral sex.
Hitsburg Revisited (Epitaph, 1999) is mere routine (with only one original track, Hitsburg USA, in the style of American Beat).
No one has been as effective and original as they are in the operation of revival. At least American Beat and Let's See The Sun will remain among the greatest masterpieces of the Sixties sound. Taken as a whole, their songbookof epidermal cadences, memorable melodies, and irresistible riffshas few equals in the history of rock.
The Fleshtones returned to their past glory with
Solid Gold Sound (Fantastik Music, 2001).
They concoct an orgy of fuzz, Farfisa, tribal drums and wild saxophone solos:
My New Song , Solid Gold Sound , Test The Flesh , Line Check , Ten Dollars More , Whatever It Takes , Good Good Crack , Hitsburg U.S.A. , Daddy-O , Baja Weekend ,
Dreaming About Work , Love's In The Grave , Bazooka Joe's Vacation , Sound Check 2001.
Zaremba is still youthful and reckless on Do You Swing? (Yep Roc, 2003),
as his Destination Greenpoint,
Hard Lovin' Man,
I'm Back Again and the mostly instrumental One Four Five prove.
Streng writes the instrumental Good Enough for You and the effervescent
Are You Ready for the Mountain, which complete the Fleshtones'
claim to immortality.
Take A Good Look (Yep Roc, 2008) contains several good additions to
the canon (First Date,
Love Yourself,
Jet Set Fleshtones,
This Time Josephine) although there is little that can be called
"memorable".
