Soledad Brothers / 4AD

Back from the almost-dead: the legendary Rust Belt R&B Revolutionary Gospel of the Soledad Brothers! De Soledad Brothers from Toledo, Ohio were long associated with the garage-rock revival of Detroit in the early 2000s, along with kindred spirits like The White Stripes, The Detroit Cobras, and The Dirtbombs. They emerged from those same fiery roots, zeitgeist, and local scene, but quickly chose their own path: louder, looser, rawer. Yet, connections with the scene in Detroit also remained. Zowel Jack like Meg White appeared on the b-side of their debut single and produced their first LP in 2000, with Meg White behind the drums on some songs (and joining the band as far as Diksmuide, for their concert in 2002 at 4AD). They were heavily influenced by John Lee Hooker, The Gun Club, Hound Dog Taylor, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, but also by more distant sound waves such as The Fall and free jazz pioneers like Albert Ayler. All those influences melted together into a completely own sound, soaked with a unique political sharpness and frayed edges that their contemporaries did not explore. Their acclaimed, fiery live shows have lost none of their power in all those years. On the contrary: the anger burns brighter than ever and the stage chaos sounds even louder. In 2005, they were last with us during the opening weekend of our concert hall; now they are finally back in Europe. And of course, 4AD could not be missing from the tour poster. Soledads, unite!