The Velvet Underground meets the Beatles. That’s one way to describe the newest entry from Endelouz. A brilliant little EP is another way to describe it. It’s been almost a year since I last wrote about Endelouz and that time around I compared them to the Rolling Stones during their ’70s heyday. Reed, Lennon, Jagger…is Endelouz a classic rock band?
Not in the least—but they are a celebration of what was best about the classic sound from the late-’60s to the mid-’70s, and I don’t mean the tired old pop tunes played endlessly on the radio, I mean the good stuff your dad keeps in milk crates in the basement.
Once again Jack (who enjoys the stage name Jack Kittyfarts for some reason), Joey and Dennis have demonstrated the highest caliber of musicianship and production values in four lovingly crafted tunes that range from the airy, head-bobbing groove of “How Long Has it Been” to the Hendrix-driven “A.R.A.T. 5”. “She Says Wait” plays like a very worthy homage to Lou Reed and smack me with a fish and call me Angne if the charming duet of “Train Song” doesn’t evoke John Prine and Iris DeMent.
As with all of Endelouz’s work, these tunes are not derivative in the least; my comparisons aren’t meant to imply that. The fellows simply have a broad palate of influences they bring to bear with skill, style and taste on their wholly original and unique compositions.
New Southern Manifesto is available now and if you appreciate the classics but yearn for something new, you owe yourself a copy.
— MTM