What’s better than stumbling across a great band? Stumbling across a great band with a mighty back catalogue. That’s what I lucked into with The Glasspack. If you’re already up to speed on these guys, forgive me for being late to the party. And screw you for not inviting me earlier.
I’m not going to waste a lot of air and ink regurgitating their bio for you. That’s what their exhaustive Wikipedia page is for. Suffice to say that they’re a high-octane outfit who came roaring out of Louisville around the turn of the millennium. Fronted by singer-guitarist Dirty Dave Johnson, their sound is an amalgam of garage-rock, punk, blues, boogie, psychedelia, stoner-rock and more. In short: The riffs are mighty, the beats are propulsive, the grooves are wicked, the songwriting is top-notch and the energy is unstoppable.
They’ve been likened to everyone from Monster Magnet to Status Quo and Flamin’ Groovies, though I also hear a lot of vintage Iggy and MC5 in the mix, along with touches of Endless Boogie, Fu Manchu and even Butthole Surfers now and then (though they can also make the most of an old Stones cut, as their cover of Gimme Shelter on the Bridgeburner album makes pretty damn clear). They released albums on Small Stone and Man’s Ruin, which should also give you an idea of where they’re coming from.
Sound good? The let’s cut to the chase: I went and dug up their four studio albums on Bandcamp, along with EPs, singles and a pair of live albums (including a newly reissued 2004 public radio broadcast, which is where I came across them). I even tossed in a couple of albums by Johnson’s previous band Blacklisted and his zombie-themed side project Dirty Bird, since they’re pretty much cut from the same fuzzy cloth. And here’s what might be the best news of all: According to that Bandcamp page, they’re headed back into the studio this summer to cut their first album in 15 years. These oughta tide you over until then:
https://youtu.be/M2MfHq9XFa0
