There’s something about odd couples I find strangely compelling, in a squinty-eyed, amateur anthropologist middle school girl type of way. And not necessarily peculiar physical pairings, though the metabolically challenged/beanpole, hottie/nottie combos are always worth a good gawk. What really gets my synapses firing is couples, friends and families with totally divergent approaches to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Strangely, these red/blue, church/state, Pabst/martini pairings often end up being as delightful for the participants as they are for the observers. That’s why these borderline freakazoid new supergroup partnerships have me reeling, clapping, cackling and tip-tapping my feet to their strange little beat. All at the same time. Here are the five most enchanting, mind-boggling, creative sonic collaborations exploding on airwaves near you:
5. The Dead Weather
This group is the exactly what would be produced by a college rock DJ who wears nothing but American Apparel and Forever 21, combined with her roommate, the reluctant business major who goes to every indie show in town yet defensively insists she’s so not selling out when she graduates. Alison Mosshart of The Kills is taking center stage, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age is strumming the guitar, Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs and The Greenhornes playing the bass and Jack White of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs is slapping the skins (ZOMG?! The master musical guru isn’t front and center).
Their debut single, Hang You From the Heavens was released on March 11 through iTunes and, natch, on a 7” vinyl, limited edition. Check out the beautiful chaos. Not enough? Their next show is at the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival in San Francisco on August 30.
4. Coca-Cola’s Supergroup
Remember when shamelessly shilling for the man was considered uncool? Those days are so over – pop tarts shouldn’t be the only ones capitalizing on capitalism, right? The best out-of-left-field sell out by far comes courtesy of Cee-Lo Green, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, Brendon Urie from Panic at the Disco, Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heroes and Grammy-nominated songstress Janelle Monae, who all got together and made sweet, sweet music for The Coca-Cola Co.
The freaky-deaky rock/pop/hip-hop amalgamation–they produced a track for Coke’s Orwellian sounding “Happiness Factory” series of commercials–may seem unappealing (kinda like Diet Vanilla Coke) but once you sample the sonic bliss (or sip Diet Vanilla Coke a.k.a. my secret crack), you too, will feel instantly perked up and ready to add a little razzle to your dazzle. Don’t believe me?
3. Gramercy Arms
Taking the concept of supergroup to a totally new level, Gramercy Arms’ only self-imposed limits seem to be geographical. The group’s comprised of a revolving collective of New York-based artists, including members of Guided by Voices, Luna, Joan as Police Woman, Dead Air and the Dambuilders and (RANDOM ALERT!) comic Sarah Silverman. Huh? If it sounds odd and confusing, it’s only appropriate: their subject matter, is after all, basically sex and the city. The result: a tightly wound, even more tightly edited 30-minute power pop (emphasis on power) album that’s as diverse, dirty, delirious and dazzling as a stroll on the sunny side of Bedford Ave. at 8 a.m. on a Saturday when the local swells are still stumbling home and the new yummy mummies are heading out for their daily double half-caf latte fix. Give ’em a listen.
2. The Tinted Windows
Hanson’s Taylor Hanson, The Smashing Pumpkins’ James Iha, Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger and Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos, while keen men all, don’t seem to belong in the same sentence, never mind the same group. But making perfect sense is for losers, right guys? The fearsome foursome, divergent sounds be damned, are about to drop their shit on an unsuspecting world, so watch out. Come April 21, The Tinted Windows–which was midwifed way back in the 20th century by Taylor and Adam– will be more than a notion, a dream, a fantasy bambino. It will be an actual band with an actual album. The sound is bare, high energy, raw, eclectic and totally fresh with “Kind of A Girl” and “Messing With My Head.”
1. The Last Shadow Puppets
This gem is the little supergroup that could. They’re not playing for a fizzy sponsor, a lark or some producer’s Machiavellian marketing scheme…they’re just here to jam, man, and let me tell you, it’s a beautiful thing. Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of the Rascals played together when Kane was with The Little Flames and they opened for the Arctic Monkeys (twice). The duo clearly hit it off, writing music together in their spare moments between rocking out onstage and off (much of the material ended up on Arctic Monkeys’ albums), and eventually culminated in the formation of The Last Shadow Puppets.
Their first album, the aptly titled The Age of the Understatement, shot to numero uno in the U.K. and they played legendary shows at the Reading and Leeds Festivals 2008 and at the Cake Shop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. They’re set to release a new album this year. If you’ve missed The Last Shadow Puppets’ dark levity, deranged clarity, pure dirty, stop the madness and have a taste.
-Kathleen Willcox