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Detroit's
The Paybacks release third album: "Love, Not Reason,"
on Savage Jams records.
There are those who would scoff at the notion that "Cat
Scratch Fever" is poetry. The members of Detroit rock outfit
The Paybacks aren't among them.
Rock 'n' roll, when doing its job properly, releases the same
brain chemistry as love: the surge of adrenalin, the limbic
charge of a pleasurable encounter and the primal recognition
that unites the pack. At the peak of their capabilities, love
and rock 'n' roll happen naturally. And the first rule of rock
applies to both – no guts, no glory.
On The Paybacks' new album, "Love, Not Reason," the
band strips back the covers to reveal some naked truths about
love and its many rapturous, painful, exhilarating and perplexing
manifestations -- the highest highs, the lowest lows and all
the throbbing, confusing parts in the middle. In a word, it's
a seductive "treatise" on the futility of trying to
tame the passions that drive us.
Recorded over a chilly spring weekend at Chicago's Volume Studios
with producer/engineer Sanford Parker and released on the new
Savage Jams label, "Love, Not Reason" has emerged
as a complete listening experience in the most classic tradition.
Greater than the sum of its parts, the album really is "an
album."
"We didn't plan it that way," says singer/songwriter
Wendy Case, "but we're proud to have made a record like
this while the format still exists. Queen and Led Zeppelin made
records that were more than just a bunch of songs on a platter.
We feel like we've done that with this album."
When Ted Nugent observed that Cat Scratch Fever "makes
a grown man cry," he wasn't just whistlin' Dixie. Whether
he's expounding on love, ass or a trip to the doctor's office,
believe it – some tears are gonna fall. "Love, Not
Reason" insists that you drop your guard, max out the volume
knob and enjoy the ride. Life is short; get your hands dirty,
get your heart broken and don't forget what Thomas Mann had
to say about it: "It is love, not reason, that is stronger
than death."
BIO IN BRIEF: Formed in summer of 1999 from
members of veteran Detroit rock acts Rocket 455, Ten High and
The Hentchmen; The Paybacks first came to international attention
when their track "Black Girl" opened the 2001 Jack
White recorded and produced compilation "The Sypathetic
Sounds of Detroit." Shortly thereafter, the White Stripes
exploded onto the international rock scene inviting a global
interest in Detroit rock. With Danny Methric from Detroit blues
punks The Muggs now on lead guitar, The Paybacks spent the next
four years on the road supporting two critically acclaimed albums:
"Knock Loud" and "Harder and Harder." The
band found its way onto film and television scores including
ABC's 2004 telecast of the Academy Awards, which opened with
the Paybacks' track "Hollywood" and two nights of
live performances from the band on NBC's "Last Call with
Carson Daly." With a reputation for big, arena rock riffs,
emotionally charged lyrics and an explosive live show, The Paybacks
continue to exemplify the power and integrity that have become
the band's hallmarks. The third album, "Love, Not Reason,"
recorded in spring of 2006, is set for release in November '06.
SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT THE PAYBACKS:
"Whatever is going on in the throat of singer-guitarist
Wendy Case can't be pretty. It can't be ignored either."
-- Rolling Stone
"Detroit singer/guitarist Wendy Case's repro job on Rod
the Mod's rasp is so spot-on and striking that it propels her
band's ass-kicking punk-blues into the realm of greats like
the Faces themselves." -- SPIN
"...raucous and hooky. Singer-guitarist Wendy Case is blessed
with a gravelly, in-your-face voice of the sort we last heard
emanating from Janis Joplin."
"Play this for the next fool who tells you 'chicks don't
rock.'" -- Entertainment Weekly
"The Paybacks ARE the band with enough balls to save the
soul of rock 'n' roll" -- Village Voice
"More hooks than a bait shop." – All Music Guide
"(The Paybacks) have a singer who's the first woman in
recorded history to replicate the grated-larynx howl of Slade's
Noddy Holder." -- New Musical Express
"The Paybacks are a fuck-you to the mechanics of the record
business. (They) are seizing, one fan at a time, America's attention."
– CREEM
"...a gritty explosion of street-punk soul. (The Paybacks)
stab upbeat pop hooks through ebullient backing harmonies and
dirty hard rock riffs." – The Stranger (Seattle)
"...like a holy wafer in the Pope's pocket, I tremble at
its powers...ass-spankin' guitar solos, hot-rod rhythms and
the gruff, rrrawk voice of Case." – New York Rock"(The
Paybacks) provide a fresh injection of good ol' rock 'n' roll
into a gravely sick genre." – splendidezine.com
"The Paybacks combine loud, energetic music with lyrics
that are disarmingly compassionate...(it's) the best kind of
blues backed by hard-charging rock 'n' roll." – Salon.com
"What's really impressive about the Paybacks is that they
leaven hot slabs of molten rock with a few genuine pop-rock
songs. They obviously know they can kick your ass anytime they
feel like pressing down the accelerator." – fufkin.com
"The Paybacks love rock 'n' roll, and rock 'n' roll loves
them right back." – Moles Club, UK |
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Love,
Not Reason
Savage Jams
2006 |
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