The Vulgar Boatmen are an archetypal cult band. Those of us who love them really, really love them, but the three albums the Indiana/Florida band released between 1989 and 1995 never reached a wide audience. So, the reissue of debut You And Your Sister, bolstered by a pair of new remixes and three previously unreleased tracks, is a gift. Dale Lawrence and Robert Ray wrote strummy, propulsive tunes that could recall Good Earth-era Feelies, the Velvet Underground or Stax/Volt soul. The band will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new Q&A with Lawrence.
Lawrence: Enjoying the new deluxe edition of Fleetwood Mac‘s Tusk reminds me: There are better drummers than Mick Fleetwood (probably), but are there any who get a more consistently satisfying tone out of their snare drum? It cracks, and it crunches. Though there’s a lightness to it, it also feels like a punch in the gut. There’s plenty of top on it, but it’s also deep, cushioned, as though the floor tom is being hit at the same time, when clearly it’s not. It adds the kind of emotional weight more often associated with soul drumming. See especially “Don’t Stop,” “Blue Letter,” “I Know I’m Not Wrong,” “Say You Love Me” and “Second Hand News.”
