Screaming guitars, heartbeat rhythms and high, lusty vocals just don't get old — at least not for anyone who cherishes records by The Who or Led Zeppelin. That's why the buzz coming from the Big Apple points to a Brooklyn-based power trio called Earl Greyhound. Their debut album, Soft Targets, dropped early last year, and not too long after came the chatter: Next Big Thing.
Slide the disc into your stereo, and it should soon be apparent why old-school rock enthusiasts and Strokes fans are raving. The opening track, "S.O.S.," shoots out of the speakers like a restless wraith with a love jones. Punchy guitar riffs, hard-hitting backbeats and wild-hair vocals about sending an intergalactic distress signal are delivered by guitarist Matt Whyte. Bassist Kamara Thomas chimes in on the chorus, sounding like prime-era Robert Plant, making "S.O.S." the latest entry into the why-the-hell-isn't-this-a-hit-single sweepstakes.
Equal parts heavy blues, psychedelic, plastic soul and power pop, Soft Targets is a disc with something for everybody who has ever had a radio locked to a classic rock station — or lived through (and enjoyed) the British Invasion. The band concocted its name because they thought it had an English ring to it. "From the beginning, we played music inspired by bands out of England," Whyte says.
Publications like the Village Voice and Spin have sung the praises of Earl Greyhound. The New Yorker put those N.B.T. words in print, writing, "whether or not Earl Greyhound are the Next Big Thing is irrelevant — watching them will convince you that they are."
Earl Greyhound and other bands — most notably Wolfmother — are among a wave of young acts picking up where their classic-rock heroes left off. Unlike many indie rockers, the neo-classic rock set frowns on irony, respects chops and is down with stage peacocking. The movement is about putting the electric guitar and machismo back in the forefront.
"[The neo-classic rock trend] is definitely going to work in our favor," Whyte says. "The guitar solo needed a break for awhile [in the 1980s]. I think people seem to be a little more open to other kinds of music now. We're an act that's done this for a few years now and have noticed a change of attitude among people."
And what about the Wolfmother comparisons?
"It was weird because I haven't really checked 'em out," Whyte says, "but we get compared to them a lot."
Tampa Bay's music scene got its first taste of Earl Greyhound when the trio opened Crowbar in Ybor City last November. The show prompted longtime local concert promoter Jack Spatafora to bring the band back for a gig Friday at New World Brewery, located just around the corner from Crowbar.
"That was a really fun night," Whyte says of the Crowbar gig. "The owners were really enthusiastic, not something you see all that often. More often than not, it is people who are beaten down by the routine."
Whyte's band has been touring nearly nonstop for several years now. The three musicians also took their own beating at the hands of some nasty black ice while driving through North Dakota, where they flipped their tour van several weeks ago.
"I can't tell you how excited we are to get down there [to Florida]," Whyte says. "You guys have it a little too easy [in the winter]."
Whyte answered his mobile phone during a recent down week spent with his family in North Carolina, where he received acupuncture treatment for his injuries. "We still all have bad necks," he said.
This past year has been hectic for the band, to say the least — especially when one considers the trio's humble beginnings as an acoustic duo. Whyte met bassist/singer/co-songwriter Thomas in '02. They performed as a piano/guitar pair in New York City and Los Angeles before transforming the act into a power trio, which included the addition of Big Ricc Sheridan behind the monster drum kit.
The band signed to Some Records and issued a self-titled EP in '04, which led to their current release Soft Targets and continued touring. "We've played a few different markets twice now and have really seen our fan base grow — especially in Boston and Chicago," Whyte said. "We're trying to do that in Tampa with this show — our first show there went really well."
Whyte then added that he hoped to set his band apart with memorable live shows and word of mouth.
"The key for us is always giving absolutely 100 percent every night, and every time come back around having people remember us," he said. "We haven't always been playing to [big] crowds, but we've always played 100 percent."
And how exactly do the members of Earl Greyhound get revved up before a gig?
Whyte laid out the prescription: "We like to listen to Black Sabbath's Sabotage and the Thin Lizzy album Bad Reputation."
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2007.