The Adjusters

The Afghan Whigs, “The Spell”

After a sixteen year hiatus, the Afghan Whigs got back together, meaning Greg Dulli decided to start recording music under that moniker. I think there are some shared folks with 1965 besides him, hard to tell from Discogs. Anyway, the music post-hiatus seems like it continues on a straight line from where they left off, but as if they kept making albums in the meantime. If that makes sense? That is, if there were four albums missing in-between and they kept evolving in the same direction, you’d end up where they are now.

The Adjusters, “Armstrong”

The Adjusters were a ska/soul act out of Chicago, who managed a couple albums before the ska scene imploded, but hung around with a couple more albums with much more narrow distribution. They also wore their left politics on their sleeve, and brought a lot of genuine passion to things. This tune comes from their most effective album, Before The Revolution, where their eclectic influences came together well.

Happy birthday to my oldest! 10 years! Mind blowing. Let’s see what shuffle pulls up to celebrate!

Arsonists, “Backdraft”

One of the things to like about the Arsonists is the way MCs are coming into and out of this song, weaving their verses. I love that kind of thing.

The Adjusters, “It’s Like That”

A soul/ska act out of Chicago, the Adjusters were lumped in with the rest of the third-wave, which was a little bit of a mischaracterization. They were probably more reggae than ska, for starters. For second, the soul side of the band was substantial, and probably more of their songs would be soul songs than ska or reggae. When they were on, they were amazing, particularly when Joan Axthelm and Jessica Basta were doing the lead vocals. They also stood out for having an explicit political view for their music, as avowed socialists. This song comes from their third album, Otis Redding Will Save America, but I think their second album (Before the Revolution) is their best.