If you walked into a record store and heard this album for the first time, you’d probably think it’s a compilation of rare soul, R&B, funk and doo-wop nuggets from 1960s America. Remarkably, it turns out to be a brand new Dutch collaboration between psychedelic southern rock band DeWolff and roots rock band Dawn Brothers. Musically and fashion-wise, both bands have one foot in the rock and roots past, and we already knew that they are great musicians, but making a classic soul record is a different story. The fact that they pull up original(!) material – with apparent ease – that revive the heyday of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and The Coasters, proves how good these guys are. The 14 songs here are the result of 5 sessions of 1 day writing (by Bas van Holt (Dawn Brothers) and Pablo van de Poel (DeWolff)), 1 day recording (everything you hear is recorded live on analog tape, with 6 to 11 people together in one room; the two bands were reinforced with a horn section featuring Lauran Neerincx on trumpet, Richard Wevers on baritone saxophone and Kasper Rietkerk on alto saxophone) – and 1 day mixing. The tunes are diverse and surprising (the artists from different backgrounds and skills complement each other well), with powerful vocals and an instrumentation full of details, and the sound is rich and uplifting (the enthusiasm of the band members is clearly audible). A rare find indeed.
Double Cream is out now on CD and vinyl LP through Suburban Records.
Add to wantlist: Suburban Records