We all know the feeling. Its the feeling you get when you play an album through and you have the urge to play a album by a different artist as they will just “fit”? I get that feeling a lot. Sometimes it’s instant, sometimes it takes a while to come through. Sometimes there is only 1 album you can link it to, sometimes there are a few. Well, here is the first in a (possible) series (maybe) of albums that sit well together - Perfect Partners.
The Distillers - The Distillers [2000] | Sorry & The Sinatras - Highball Roller [2009]
The Distillers eponymous début from 2000 is an album I’ve had for 10 years. I first got hold of a copy based purely one some magazine descriptions and the fact it was on the Epitaph label. I played it a bit, and oddly quickly forgot about it. ‘HighBall Roller‘, Sorry & The Sinatras début, was purchased based on one fact - Scott Sorry is the bassist in The Wildhearts. For me, that was all I needed. Interestingly, it took The Wildhearts, with Scott on bass, to bring the Distillers album back to my ears - The ‘Hearts covered “The World Comes Tumbling” on their covers albums ‘Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One Before’, on which Scott plays.
Both albums are gems of modern punk. All three-chords, distortion and noise. Brody Dalle (Distillers) and Scott Sorry (S&TS) both have a rasping voice that is suited to the fast-paced energetic pop-punk, allowing the vocals to simultaneously rise about the guitar but also blend and merge into the melee.
The Distillers were formed around the singer/guitarist Brody Armstrong/Dalle in 1998; just after Dalle had moved to LA from Australia after marrying Tim Armstrong of Rancid/Operation Ivy. The Rancid influence is clear on the Distillers 2000 début. Whilst not been as ska-influenced or as pop-polished, there are times when the vocal phrasings, time signatures and structure could have been lifted form a number of Rancid songs. This isn’t a bad thing to my ears, Rancid have been on my radar since ‘…And Out Come The Wolves’ in 1995 - one the albums alongside ‘Dookie’ and ‘Smash’ [see a future PP] to broaden my metal mind to fun, punky music. It would have been lazy to do this about The Distillers and Rancid though…
Sorry & The Sinatras were an offshoot project for Scott Sorry during some Wildhearts downtime, with début album being released in 2009. Scott joined the ‘Hearts in in 2006, replacing long time bassist Danny McCormack. Sorry and Wildhearts front man Ginger had known each other from the Nikki Sixx/Tracii Guns band Brides of Destruction. Despite his trade as bassist in these groups, Scott sings and plays rhythm guitar on Highball Roller, with bass duties covered by Rags from Trashlight Vision. The whole members/links between S&TS, Wildhearts, Amen, BoD, Yo-Yo’s etc is long an confusing at best and not worth trying to repeat here.
Sorry & The Sinatras were an offshoot project for Scott Sorry during some Wildhearts downtime, with début album being released in 2009. Scott joined the ‘Hearts in in 2006, replacing long time bassist Danny McCormack. Sorry and Wildhearts front man Ginger had known each other from the Nikki Sixx/Tracii Guns band Brides of Destruction. Despite his trade as bassist in these groups, Scott sings and plays rhythm guitar on Highball Roller, with bass duties covered by Rags from Trashlight Vision. The whole members/links between S&TS, Wildhearts, Amen, BoD, Yo-Yo’s etc is long an confusing at best and not worth trying to repeat here. Again, it would have been boring to try and link S&TS with The Wildhearts...
So do these albums really work together? And why? Well, they might have been recorded 10 years apart but they both share the same roots that go back to the 70s/80s punk and hardcore scene. S&TS have a more pop influenced sound than the Distillers, but still have the moments when the drop into raw, off-kilter punk. Brody’s voice is a stronger than Scott’s, but both albums share a great use of backing vocals and harmonies. Why they work together, for me, is that playing them back to back or mixed prolongs the feeling of each separate album.
So do these albums really work together? And why? Well, they might have been recorded 10 years apart but they both share the same roots that go back to the 70s/80s punk and hardcore scene. S&TS have a more pop influenced sound than the Distillers, but still have the moments when the drop into raw, off-kilter punk. Brody’s voice is a stronger than Scott’s, but both albums share a great use of backing vocals and harmonies. Why they work together, for me, is that playing them back to back or mixed prolongs the feeling of each separate album.
Both are often overlooked classics of the genre, so check them out: Spotify - Sorry & The Sinatras – Highball Roller | Spotify - The Distillers – The Distillers
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