'I wanted to make a record that sounded good on the radio of a '78 Camaro', declares Chris Ryan, the mastermind behind Raw Deluxe. After years playing side-man for the likes of Grammy-award winner Itaal Shur, Cooly's Hot Box, Nikka Costa, and Future Freedom Ensemble, Ryan decided to take matters into his own hands and produce, in the truest sense of the word, a great rock and roll record. Ryan had known underground house-music sensation Lisa Shaw (whose vocal style was recently described by Madonna in a Rolling Stone interview as being 'so cool') for some time and the two decided to team up. Shaw would pen lyrics and Ryan would write the music. The line-up was completed when Ryan, who had already decided to play bass and guitar on the record, enlisted the help of long-time high school friend Nick Ferrante to play drums. The line-up was now complete, and after naming themselves in tribute to a landmark Jungle Brothers LP, Raw Deluxe spent 2001 writing and recording in Ryan's bedroom.
The resulting album, This Is A Radio Reply, lives up to its name in the fullest- ten tight, concise rock and roll songs filled with incredible hooks, bittersweet lyrics and a certain sense of soul that has been missing in modern rock for quite some time.
'Even though this was pretty much a studio thing, I wanted to get the band to play some shows so we would know what to shoot for when we recorded' Ryan tells us. For the now-legendary live act, bassist Jeff Allen (from Duncan Sheik's band) was called in (Allen also contributed bass on the track "Butterfly"). The concept clearly worked- This Is A Radio Reply is loaded with explosive performances from all involved.
Precise and melodic, Raw Deluxe has managed to bring back the old-school flavor of rock and roll without smacking of nostalgia. With This Is A Radio Reply, they may have written the most sophisticated punk record ever.
Check out the artist's website:
http://www.rawdeluxe.net
Track List:
1. You Don't Say
2. Butterfly
3. Silhouette
4. Nineteen Days
5. Catch You Now
6. Just Go
7. Wildboy
8. The Proud, The Crowd or Me
9. So Long
10. Sad and Lonely
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
The resulting album, This Is A Radio Reply, lives up to its name in the fullest- ten tight, concise rock and roll songs filled with incredible hooks, bittersweet lyrics and a certain sense of soul that has been missing in modern rock for quite some time.
'Even though this was pretty much a studio thing, I wanted to get the band to play some shows so we would know what to shoot for when we recorded' Ryan tells us. For the now-legendary live act, bassist Jeff Allen (from Duncan Sheik's band) was called in (Allen also contributed bass on the track "Butterfly"). The concept clearly worked- This Is A Radio Reply is loaded with explosive performances from all involved.
Precise and melodic, Raw Deluxe has managed to bring back the old-school flavor of rock and roll without smacking of nostalgia. With This Is A Radio Reply, they may have written the most sophisticated punk record ever.
Check out the artist's website:
http://www.rawdeluxe.net
Track List:
1. You Don't Say
2. Butterfly
3. Silhouette
4. Nineteen Days
5. Catch You Now
6. Just Go
7. Wildboy
8. The Proud, The Crowd or Me
9. So Long
10. Sad and Lonely
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
- ROCK: Hard Rock
- POP: Power Pop
- TYPE: LO-FI