Archie and the Bunkers: Worldwide Video Single Premiere – „Sally Lou“
Archie and the Bunkers, which consists of teenage brothers Emmett and Cullen O’Connor on keys and vocals, formed in 2013. They are a musical anomaly in that the compositions they write are refreshingly new, but they draw their influences from classic musicians and movies of the past.
Influences range from jazz organ greats like Jimmy Smith and Richard „Groove“ Holmes to punk icons Dead Boys and the Stooges. „We have jazz influences like Jimmy Smith, who’s a great organist,“ says Cullen. „We owe a lot to our parents for getting us into music. We just went into our own directions. We found tons of different bands, and it’s been like a tree with all the branches going out in different directions. I don’t think anyone our age knows who the Dead Boys are.“
Producer/engineer Jim Diamond captured their „HI-FI Organ Punk“ sound that Emmett describes as „rock ’n‘ roll that’s been peeled back to its raw foundation.“ „We’ve created our own genre,“ he says. „But we just like to play rock ’n‘ roll. He says recording at Ghetto Recorders was a blast. „It was really cool getting to do our record there, especially since they’re tearing it down,“ he says. „We drove, set up and recorded pretty much everything. Then, we went back to the hotel and recorded the next day. The next day Jim played us our songs and we liked them.“ The band is in the process of finalizing a European tour for 2016. „It’s been crazy how quickly people got interested in the band,“ says Cullen.
The dark seducing of Sally Lou Opens the album with percussive coaxing and almost as quickly the heavy haunting of organ, the song subsequently slips into gear and a gentle but purposeful stroll. As Cullen’s fingers dance over the keys of his nostalgia oozing instrument with at times, as in many songs, a potent hue of The Stranglers’ Dave Greenfield to its melodic weave, vocals twist and turn in emotion and intensity as slower croons evolve into brawling squalls and vice versa.
