Meet Dolphin Man. He’s a new hero for the new year, and the subject of the first single from Jeremy Scott’s new album Bear Grease. Scott will be spending some of 2022 on the road as the bassist for Reigning Sound. But he’s also got an extensive solo catalog, as the leader of the power pop revivalists Toy Trucks, and now his new self-titled solo project, which features Scott on guitar, bass, and vocals, and Graham Burks on everything else.
“Fred Neil Armstrong” is about everyone’s favorite cetacean invading dry land. The video, directed by Aquarian Blood’s J.B. Horrell, stars Lauren Goller as Dolphin Man, having adventures among the legged. The best part is when Dolphin Man tries on the octopus hat. But don’t take my word for it. Dive in!
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Reigning Sound is currently on a high note. Since Greg Cartwright reunited his original Memphis lineup of Jeremy Scott, Greg Roberson, and the Memphis Flyer‘s own Alex Greene, and added in drummer Graham Winchester for spice, they’ve cracked the Billboard charts with their album A Little More Time, played a sold-out show at the River Series, and announced as GonerFest 2021 headliners (which is also sold out, so grab a streaming ticket instead).
The music video for the lead single “Let’s Do It Again” shows the rockers in full flight It’s the Monday kickoff you need right now.
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.
This Saturday, Memphis garage-rock gurus Reigning Sound will perform live (streamed to your computer or device via Twitch and Facebook Live) from the stage of B-Side, presented by Goner Records, to celebrate the upcoming Merge Records rerelease of the band’s 2005 album Home for Orphans.
The Home for Orphans reissue isn’t Reigning Sound’s first association with Merge. Their excellent 2014 LP Shattered was released on Merge Records, as was last year’s reissue of Abdication … for Your Love. “Featuring,” Merge’s website boasts, “the original Memphis lineup of singer-guitarist [Greg] Cartwright, bassist Jeremy Scott, drummer Greg Roberson, and [Flyer Music Editor] organist Alex Greene, Home for Orphans presents Reigning Sound’s classic sonic blueprint.”
Home for Orphans
That the record is made up of outtakes, demos, and rarities makes it feel like a glimpse of something elusive and wild. The songs are moody and raw, oozing atmosphere and warbling organ chords. “It was a record almost by accident,” says bassist Jeremy Scott. “We had a whole third record pretty much ready to go when Alex left. (He had a youngun’ to raise, and probably didn’t need to hang with us heathens so much anyway.) The more rockin’ material was lifted for what became Too Much Guitar, along with some newer things we developed as a trio; the moodier stuff, which contains some of Greg’s best songs in my opinion, formed the basis of this record.”
Scott adds, “Great to see it available again, in a jacket which features not one but two pictures of us! We were ugly then and we’re uglier now!”
“Love is a funny thing,” Cartwright sings over a bed of acoustic guitars, slide, and burbling bass. “Don’t know it’s real till it’s caused you pain.” The drums are unobtrusive for most of the song — a light tok! on the snare, shimmery cymbals and hi-hat to keep the beat — until the fills come in, big and dramatic as anything drummer Howard Wyeth played on Bob Dylan’s Desire.
Reigning Sound: (left to right) Jeremy Scott, Greg Cartwright, Greg Roberson, and Alex Greene
“If Christmas Can’t Bring You Home” is plaintive. Shakers and whining electric guitars that riff off of the melody of “Joy to the World” are almost too maudlin, but in the end, it works wonderfully, the sound of a lonely, drunken holiday distilled. And of course, the woeful organ chords work wonders as well. “Medication Blues #1” swirls with Byrds-like chiming guitars and an uptempo drum shuffle. The format for many of the songs — acoustic guitars, swirling organs, electric guitars played crisp and clean, bass and drums high in the mix, and harmonies galore — represents a particular sound Memphis seems to do so well in any genre, be it garage, soul, or power-pop.
“The out of town shows we did in March demonstrated that we can still bring it,” Scott says, obviously amped about the upcoming full-band performance. (Scott, like many musicians in the age of coronavirus, has streamed solo performances from his couch.) “I’m looking forward to having another opportunity to play with these guys, who are like brothers two through four to me.”
The folks at Goner have this to say about Goner TV: “We are all bummed out and we can’t get out and see a show. See our friends. Hang out and have some laughs late into the night in a dark dingy bar. Remember those days? So we wanted to do something about it. Goner TV is our attempt to bring the good times to you.”
Goner Presents: Reigning Sound Live From B-Side Saturday, June 20th, at 8 p.m. Catch it on Facebook Live or on the Goner Twitch channel:twitch.tv/gonerrecords.
For a second day, the weather gods smiled on the afternoon show. This one, at Memphis Made Brewery, featured a truly international cast, with Magic Factory from New Zealand being the farthest afield.
The Memphis band Model Zero made something of a debut with a groovy, hybrid drum machine and live drummer setup.
Model Zero
The atmosphere was friendly, with some kids running around and old friends reconnecting. Allison Green, a New Orleans photographer, has been covering Gonerfest for four years. “It’s my friend’s bachelorette party, so I’m taking it a little easy. I love shooting candids at the day shows more than anything.”
She says Gonerfest has been one of her favorite events to photograph. “Visually, Ty Segall’s set he did a couple of years ago was brilliant. He knows how to put on a show.” she recalled. “Hank Wood and the Hammerheads blew me away. They had two different drummers, and it was the best I’ve ever seen that done. There were tribal undertones, with traditional drums on top, and it was amazing.”
The highlight of her Gonerfest so far was Thursday night’s Sweet Knives performance. “I love Alicja Trout. I was a huge fan of the Lost Sounds. My buddy Rob and I were working in the darkroom—we went to college together—and he said, ‘You need to come to this show with me!’ That was my introduction to the Memphis scene in Chicago. It was 2004, probably? That’s when I saw the Lost Sounds. Alicja’s just the nicest human being in the world. I adore her. It’s very nostalgic for me.”
Kyle Johnson and Alyssa Moore keep Gonerfest sounding good.
Memphis bassist Jeremy Scott said it’s important to pace yourself during these long day/night show combos. “I love the outdoor shows at Murphy’s. Blood Bags, out of New Zealand, played last night, but they first played last year, and I saw people in the room with their jaws dropped. They were just that freakin’ good. Heavy, no bullshit, straightforward rock.”
He has played Gonerfest four times, but last year’s Reigning Sound reunion was his favorite. I don’t think we knew we were going to do it ever again, so to have that go off as well as it did was a lot of fun.”
I didn’t get pictures of anyone I talked to, so here are a couple of random guys.
Thunderroads, a Japanese band, closed out the after with a spectacularly athletic set that ended with Masahuru, brother of Seiji from Gonerfest favorites Guitar Wolf, leaping from the landscaping.
Masahuru of Thunderroads
Friday night at the Hi Tone started off with Frantic Stuffs from Osaka, Japan playing a charming, English-challenged set. Outside, Goner Records founder Eric Friedl was happy with the way things were going. “The first band is killing it, and it’s as full as it was last night already.”
Finding bands to fill out the weekend is a year-round job, he says. “There are a range of bands you would like to get. Then some people approach us and say, we’ll build a tour to get there, or we’re going to be on tour, it would be great if we could play. Then other people we ask. It’s kind of a random mix. We don’t have enough money to say, ‘We want you. We’re going to fly you in and put you up.’ So it has to be a collaboration between the bands and us. That’s why it works, I think. People really want to be here. People like Mudhoney, Cosmic Psychos—these bands could make more money other places, but they want to be here.”
In the crowded Hi Tone, San Fransciso’s Peacers delivered noisy power pop seeped in Big Star harmonies and Husker Du noise meltdowns.
Gonerfest 14: Friday (3)
Foster Care from New York City blew the roof off with rude, old school hardcore. When the crowd started to throw beer cans onto the stage (a sign that things are going well at Gonerfest) Foster Care’s bassist upped the ante by emptying out the contents of a trash can onto the audience, then wearing the trash can while he played.
Foster Care, with trash can.
The set ended with a punk puppy pile.
Foster Care gets intimate with the fans.
Lindsey, a Memphian attending her fourth Gonerfest, was there for one band. “Nots are my favorite!”
Gonerfest 14: Friday
Nots had their coming out party at Gonerfest a few years ago, and now they’re a staple of the festival. This year, fresh off the road, they did not disappoint, putting forward some new, synthesizer heavy songs, mixed with guitar-led screamers.
Gonerfest 14: Friday (2)
Tyvek, another veteran Gonerfest band, rose to the challenge the Nots laid down. pushed and swayed.
Tyvek
Sydney, Australia punks feedtime’s drummer was rejected for his visa, so the band played their headlining set with Anthony from San Francisco’s Leather Uppers sitting in. At that point, the Hi Tone main room was so packed I couldn’t make it in the door. I paused for a moment to talk to Elise from Salt Lake City, Utah. “I’ve been to Memphis, but this is my first Gonerfest,” she said. “It’s fucking awesome. I like everything about Memphis—the culture, the people, the music.”
The Reigning Sound, Greg Cartwright’s post-Oblivians band, has gone through some lineup changes over the years, necessitated by Cartwright’s evolving songwriting style and a move to Asheville, North Carolina. This past weekend, the original lineup of Cartwright, Jeremy Scott, Greg Roberson, and Alex Greene—of the best Memphis combos ever—reunited to play the River Series at Harbortown Ampitheatre, and then a second show at the P&H Cafe. Both shows saw a huge turnout, and the band sounded as great as ever.
Here’s “Never Coming Home” a music video from the Reigning Sounds’ 2014 album Shattered on the Merge label. Directed by Jonny Look, the video doesn’t feature that classic lineup, but it does give you a sense of Cartwright’s soulful songwriting.
Music Video Monday: Reigning Sound
If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com
