The Mal Thursday Quintet is a garage rock collective fronted by Austin-based singer/writer/broadcaster/podcaster Mal Thursday, with different ‘chapters’ in the Pacific Northwest, New England and Texas. The cover art of their new double A-side single caught my attention, the sound exceeded my expectations. The Texas section recorded Kitten with a Whip, an original theme song to the 1964 movie of the same name, with an intro from the theatrical trailer that immediately puts you in the right mood. The B-side is a swinging cover of The Dirty Strangers’ 2009 track South of the River. We get two masterclasses in how to play rowdy 60s rhythm & blues – you smell the sweat but can’t resist the magnetic force.
Kitten with a Whip b/w South of the River, produced by the Glimmer Quints, is out now digitally via Chunk Archives Recordings. Featuring Mal Thursday (vocals, harmonica), Keith Kinkle (guitar, vocals), Bob Medley (organ, piano, vocals), Steve Schecter (guitar, vocals), Tom Trusnovic (bass) and Bobby Trimble (drums, percussion, vocals).
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp
PS It’s not the first time the band developed a tune for a movie that didn’t originally have a theme song, just listen to A Smell of Honey, A Swallow of Brine! and Lady in a Cage.
Muchas gracias, Dennis!
Glad you dig the latest waxing, which will be featured on our forthcoming difficult second album, Texas Crude…and Other Tastes in 2024. And, one day, hopefully, “Kitten” will be on all-movie-theme anthology LP once we have enough of ’em in the can. We did “O Lucky Man!” on our first album, If 6 Was 5, and we’re working on a version of “Kid Blue” (from the 1973 Dennis Hopper western of the same name) for the second record. “Smell of Honey” will be coming out on 45 (Something Weird) and soundtrack LP (Modern Harmonic) next year, along with another original theme song to a movie that didn’t originally have a theme song, “The Defilers.”
That’s good news, we’re looking forward to it!
Much cooler than that other new single that came out today by those old or dead dudes which is pretty freaking sleepy. It’s like someone poured a bottle of laudinum into the AI computer.
This on the other hand makes me want to shake, shimmy and kill. Again and again. While wearing my good suit.