Today I listened to a very recent album, released only a year ago, in 2018. I found it completely by accident: it’s just that some sly cats on the same website with grease are selling vinyl records, and when I was ordering all sorts of things for my hair, I accidentally caught sight of the cover of this CD. Yes, I just liked the envelope and the album title, so I decided to order a record to go with the grease. At the time of the audition, I knew absolutely nothing about the singer Leadfoot Tea, and there was something pleasant about this fact. A kind of element of surprise and suddenness.
Overall, I got everything I expected from a record called Grease & Oil. Let me start by describing the sound of this disc: the entire album is designed in the same style, which combines a fast beat, a deliberately garage microphone and a guitar as the title instrument. Such a setting of songs by ear is perceived as somewhat minimalistic, but no less incendiary, especially since everything is performed very skillfully and talented. At least for twelve tracks, such a sound definitely does not bother – but personally, it seemed to me that it would be quite nice to fit a couple more tracks on the disc.
Only two songs stand out from the general range – Endless Sleep and (I’m Just A) Hog For You, which differ from everything else presented on this vinyl by a much slower tempo. On the other hand, almost every song has some small but pleasant feature – perhaps that’s why the album doesn’t bother. For example, the track Shake It On Down has one special high-pitched guitar note that plays at the most appropriate moments and reliably attracts attention. And in the song She’s Mine, Comrade Leadfoot shows us his ability to hit high notes – and he’s really good at it. In addition, such a performance is quite rare under such low-fi processing.
Well, in a separate line, I would like to note the pitch and pressure that Leadfoot Tea puts into its tracks. Yes, it’s hard for me to compare rock and roll artists in terms of energy and… the vividness of their songs – any rock composition easily makes me move – but there’s something about Leadfoot’s songs that kind of got me hooked. This ability to convey your inspiration to the listener through music is so specific that I probably won’t continue this thought and will write off everything said in this paragraph to my personal taste.
But what is impossible to argue with is the main trump card of this album, namely the lyrics of the songs on it. They are all good, but I would like to highlight some of them separately. For example, my favorite song on this record was the already mentioned (I’m Just A) Hog For You, which describes, well, just an atomic girl.
I love your big black muscle car,
I love the way that you smoke that cigar,
I love the way that your hair is a mess,
I love you baby, but you couldn’t care less!
Oh, damn, one has only to imagine such a kitty and one already wants to howl. It’s probably a good thing that they don’t occur in real life. Or are they dating? I don’t even know what to hope for…
The song Grease & Oil, after which the entire album is named, is performed in the same vein.:
I’m just lookin’ for the right kind of girl,
yea, one that don’t mind a bit of grease and oil.
That I clean my carburetor in the kitchen sink,
she don’t mind the gasoline stink –
I’m just lookin’ for the right kind of girl,
one that don’t mind a bit of grease and oil!
Or how about the track Big Black, Fast Back, which is about a girl who owns a Pontiac: See my baby comin’ down the line, she’s so fast – gonna blow my mind… Well, you know which songs were among my favorites. After all, that’s exactly the kind of tracks I wanted to hear on a CD with that name under that cover.
In other words, I got exactly what I wanted and was extremely pleased with what I heard. Of course, after that I wanted to know a little more about the performer, and that’s what I found out: Leadfoot Tea is a human orchestra from Sweden, composing and playing their songs in one person. Actually, this more than explains the somewhat monotonous minimalism of the album – everything you hear is done by one person, simultaneously kicking the drums, playing the guitar and singing into the microphone. In addition to this project, Leadfoot sings, plays and participates in many more classically structured groups: Lee Tea recorded his very first album as part of The Nuthins band back in 1992. Since then, there have been bands such as Thee Exciters, The Branded, Thee Gravemen, and a couple more bands in which Leadfoot has served as a producer or handled technical aspects. By and large, Lee is a veteran of the underground scene who clearly knows his stuff.
Well, what can I say at the end. Of course, I’m sharing the record with you, but if you have extra money, or if you want to listen to the digital version of the album without the vinyl flaws, or if you liked the album and want to hear more songs from Leadfoot Tea, just click here and you’ll be taken to his Bandcamp. The discography of Leadfoot’s solo album is very worthwhile, albeit small – and to make it bigger, support your friend with a ruble. The album Grease & Oil, for example, costs a little less than four hundred rubles. And individual songs can be purchased for fifty – for example, I am ready to recommend the Coronet Hemi track. Buy something that you can afford, and then, quite possibly, we will hear a new release from Leadfoot Tea very soon.
2. Shake It On Down
3. She’s Mine
4. Grease And Oil
5. Shake Them Bones
6. Endless Sleep
7. Big Black, Fast Back
8. Love Me Tonight
9. (Here I Go) On My Own Again
10. (I’m Just A) Hog For You
11. Love Has Gone
12. Voodoo Blues
Download Leadfoot Tea – Grease & Oil (2018) (rar, mp3, 59 Mb)
Am I the only one who thinks that Vladimir Semenovich Vysotsky is on the cover? Yes, the album as a whole went well, of course everything is a bit monotonous, with the same sound, but I understand that these are the laws of the genre. I was pleased with the Endless Sleep version, I just love this rockabilly standard, and the familiar theme pleasantly dilutes the author’s unknown material. Some of Leadfoot’s riffs reminded me of The Cramps, of course, because it’s garage rock and roll with three blues chords.
You have great ideas about Vysotsky)
But in general, there is something at least suggestive of the Soviet. The red color and the hat are probably to blame.
Damn it! I’m working on a new article about Leadfoot and I write: reminds me of The Cramps. And then I go to an old article, and here you tell me in the comments that it also reminds you of The Cramps. Pancake. I completely forgot that you wrote that.
The very moment when I myself doubt whether my thoughts are in my head.