August 7–14, 1997

stone's soul picnic

Kind of Blue

If The Delta 72 isn't a blues band, what is it?

The Delta 72.

Imagine a backwoods watering hole where the crowd is always at the ready to testify for a good groove. The dance floor is filled with guys in seersucker suits and classy dolls in cocktail dresses. It could be 1966 or 2006, it doesn't matter. Who'sheadlining tonight? None other than Philadelphia's The Delta 72. This is their turf, where revved-up soul always brings down the house and hepcats know that a cool band is worth losing your cool over. Their new album, The Soul of a New Machine(Touch and Go), might as well be the soundtrack for this imaginary juke joint, because it's both the past and future, and in the end, kind of timeless.

Like the many vintage LPs that inspire the Philadelphia band, The Delta 72's second album starts off with the sound of crackling vinyl (regardless of whether you're listening to it on CD, cassette or the real thing). Suddenly, an announcer screams"It's Star Time!" and drummer Jason Kourkounis bursts into a funky gospel beat. Sarah Stolfa's Farfisa growls majestically and guitarist Gregg Foreman and bassist Bruce Reckahn add the necessary punch to pull the groove together and let youknow you it's time to get off of your feet and get down.

As much as this might sound like the simmering start of a mid-'60s soul review, The Delta 72 aren't out to reinvent rhythm and blues.

"Not one-tenth of the new album has got blues in it," argues Foreman, sitting back in Kourkounis' Old City loft apartment. He admits he's defensive about the comparison. The last song on their new album, "We Hate the Blues," firesaway at journalists and naysayers who think The Delta 72 and similarly minded bands like Make-Up and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are only regurgitating the classics.

"There are no white punk rock bands playing the blues, unless you're aping Hound Dog Taylor's riffs," he figures.

"We don't think any of those bands are blues bands," interjects Kourkounis. As for titling their 1996 debut album The R&B of Membership, Foreman says it had nothing to do with trying to say that The Delta 72 is an R&B band.

"We are R&B in spirit because that's where the roots of rock music is, but we're doing what we want to do and that's all that we want to do."

With The Soul of a New Machine The Delta 72 wanted to create an album that flowed like one long set of music, but wasn't directly trying to recreate their dynamic live show. To that end, the group recorded instrumental jams with local Hammondwunderkind Mark Boyce and spliced short transition pieces in between the more structured songs. It's not really a conceptual album as much as a record that never stops cooking even when the burner's not on full blast.

Guest appearances from ex-Coctails members John Upturch and Mark Greenberg, on saxophone and vibes respectively, give the band a bigger sound and more melodic nuances. Many tracks are instrumental dance numbers, but when Foreman vocalizes he makes itcount, coming off like a streetcorner evangelist speaking in tongues. Where The R&B of Membership had only occasionally deviated from no-wavy blues-punk, The Soul of a New Machine borrows elements from lounge, jazz and even prog rockwith analog synthesizer flittering through the upper register.

The band attributes the difference between the two records to the change in lineups (Reckahn replaced original bassist Kim Thompson late last year) and their recent move from Washington, DC, to Philadelphia.

"This lineup is the best it's ever been," says Foreman (Kourkounis is actually the band's second drummer). "Bruce and Jason lock together rhythmically in a way that Kate and Jason never did," he adds. As for the City of BrotherlyLove, the frontman says that the town is much more open than DC.

"Since there isn't as much of a defined music scene, it's given us the chance to concentrate on what we want to do and be less concerned about what other people are doing."

The Delta 72 also borrow from the classics when they perform. Foreman does splits la James Brown, leaps off of speaker cabinets like Little Richard and undulates with the ferocity of Tina Turner. But the rest of the gang also gets in theShindig mindset. Stolfa hunches over her organ like a mad scientist mixing up a potent brew, Reckahn shuffles to the beat of his own bubbling basslines and Kourkounis just has to bang the skins to make his presence known. Always be prepared tohear Foreman sermonize between songs — lambasting everything from soul-less house music to passionless shoegazers.

Offstage, the singer distances himself from his platitudes, admitting that he actually likes some techno and rock, but has a habit of getting caught up in the moment.

"I want to get some kind of response from the audience, good or bad," he says. "Heckling is actually fun for me and keeps me on my toes."

As for the future, Foreman still dreams of a traveling revue featuring The Delta 72, Make-Up and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. But don't expect that to happen anytime soon. When Foreman first suggested the idea to Spencer earlier this year, thediscussion climaxed with the two trading slaps.

"I might have offended him by accident," says Foreman in retrospect. "I think he might have taken the suggestion as a kind of a challenge." But the two have made up since and Foreman is still enthusiastic about the idea."Why not do it together and play a couple of great shows that people could talk about forever? Certain rock politics stand in the way, but we're still ready to make history. Let's have a happening."

The Delta 72 are playing Friday, Aug. 8, with Rocket from the Crypt, and Saturday, Aug. 9. Both shows are at Upstairs at Nick's, 16 S. Second St., 928-0665.

Tommy Conwell is back after a four-year recording hiatus. His new album with the Little Kings, Sho' Gone Crazy (LLIST Records), is tried-and-true beefy rockabilly. It might not be incredibly inventive, occasionally recalling George Thorogood'sbar rock, but between Conwell's adept guitar work and Darryl Ray Jenkins' saxophone flourishes there's plenty of fun to be had. It's a swinging set of songs that makes me sentimental to see an episode of Sha Na Na (and I mean that as acompliment).