The greatest All American Guitar band of all times

In the car I listen to podcasts (James Altucher, Tim Ferriss, The Candid Frame, Freakonomics, …).

Or I listen to music. For that I have an SD Card that I load with a random “smart playlist” from my iTunes library. 8GB of musical history. (Spotify is for the gym.)

Today I hit this fantastic Thin White Rope song, It’s OK. I had not listened to them for quite some time. Somehow they must have been missed by the randomization algorithm in iTunes.

They are still fantastic to listen to. The greatest All American band of all times. Grungy guitar rock from the desert. John Wayne, Billy the Kid, saloons, cowboys, buffalos, oversized vehicles, overloads of street signs, New York, Lincoln, guns, George Bush, Apaches, Ernest Hemingway, hamburgers, Dear Hunter, slavery, baseball, Texas, NASA, the electric guitar, Rock & Roll, FDR, IBM, obesitas, white sneakers, kaki trousers, Elvis, Omaha Beach, Winnetou and Old Shatterhand (Karl May himself jawohl), revolver, Ford Mustang, getto’s, Fox News, CNN, every 10 minutes advertising on tv, Star Wars, Joseph Heller, John Irving, William Eggleston, You Kill It We Grill It, Apollo I, II, III and following, Tom Peters, J.D. Salinger, The Blues Brothers, Apple, Casablanca, … I give up, but sure there are a few others.

And Thin White Rope.

The Quietus has written a very good article about the band, and their music. Can’t improve upon that one.

“‘It’s OK’ blasts down the synaptic highways, a thing of both terror and awe, before locking into a monumental end groove that the band proceed to demolish with searing feedback and a hammering counter-riff. This is one of those tracks it’s simply not possible to play loud enough.”

Classic. Listen.

Stranded: Which Album Would You Take to a Desert Island?

Book cover of my old copy of 'Stranded' by Greil Marcus

What album will you bring on your Robinson Crusoe adventure?

Greil Marcus let American rock writers choose their album and justify their choice in Stranded.

I can continue reading this type of literature forever or create a blog or podcast about it. Or maybe there is one, but I don’t know about it, and I am too lazy to check it out.

The book presents a beautiful image of the ’60s and ’70s, and, of course, the rock scene at the time when vinyl was still mainstream. Some of the bands have become pretty obscure. The Ronettes, ok, I still remember them, and many kids may have heard one of their songs once. But Little John Willie, Hugh Smith, … WTF, as they would say. I can’t even recall having heard of them. And I was into music, in my time (reading ferociously on the topic: Oor, Rolling Stone, NME, what had you).

3 Surprising Albums from ‘Stranded’ You Need to Know:

New York Dolls – The New York Dolls

Captain Beafheart – Trout Mask Replica

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks.

PS

The first one to leave a note: I will send the book for free (item condition: read). PS: sent.

Which album would you take to a desert island? Share your choice in the comments!