![](\"http:\/\/i84.photobucket.com\/albums\/k32\/conqueroo\/DelLordshires2013promo.jpg\")
Fabled New York rockers the Del-Lords return with their first new album in more than two decades<\/p>\n
Fabled New York rockers the Del-Lords return with their first new album in more than two decades<\/p>\n
NEW YORK, N.Y. \u2014 \u201dWe didn\u2019t start with any agenda, other than to make a great record,\u201d Scott Kempner says of the Del-Lords\u2019 unexpected return to action following a two-decade layoff, which has yielded Elvis Club, the band\u2019s first new album since 1990. The album is set for release on May 14, 2013 on GB Music through RED Distribution.<\/p>\n
Elvis Club finds the New York-bred foursome pretty much picking up where they left off, embodying the same musical swagger and true-believer passion that originally made them one of America\u2019s most compelling rock \u2019n\u2019 roll bands, while adding a new sense of experience and perspective that lends new depth to Kempner\u2019s personally-charged songwriting and the band\u2019s infectiously gritty urban garage-roots-rock.<\/p>\n
In their original 1982-1990 lifespan, the Del-Lords helped to restore fans\u2019 faith in real rock \u2019n\u2019 roll at a time when real rock \u2019n\u2019 roll was in short supply. Over the course of four studio albums and countless sweat-soaked club sets, the band won widespread critical raves and earned the devotion of a large and loyal fan base around the world.<\/p>\n
Now, with singer-guitarist Kempner and fellow founding members Eric Ambel (guitar and vocals) and Frank Funaro (drums) joined by new bassist Michael DuClos, Elvis Club ups the ante with such indelible new Kempner compositions as \u201cWhen the Drugs Kick In,\u201d \u201cAll of My Life,\u201d \u201cChicks, Man!\u201d and \u201cLetter (Unmailed).\u201d Ambel, who in the \u201990s and \u201900s built up his frontman credentials as leader of Roscoe\u2019s Gang and member of roots-rock all-stars the Yayhoos, steps up to the mike to deliver persuasive lead vocals on a trio of tunes: \u201cMe and the Lord Blues,\u201d \u201cFlying\u201d and Neil Young\u2019s \u201cSouthern Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElvis Club confirms to me what I always felt the band could do,\u201d says Ambel. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s a different kind of record for us, in that there isn\u2019t so much of a theme to it as a feel, a real band feel. I didn\u2019t really think of it as unfinished business; it was more like \u2018Here\u2019s what we can do now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kempner (who\u2019d first made his mark as \u201cTop Ten\u201d of \u201970s punk pioneers the Dictators), Ambel (a founding member of Joan Jett\u2019s Blackhearts) and Funaro, along with original bassist Manny Caiati, first joined forces in the early \u201980s to help breathe life into downtown Manhattan\u2019s temporarily moribund live music scene, quickly winning local renown for the uncompromising intensity of their live sets. Between 1984 and 1990, the band released four studio albums \u2014 Frontier Days, Johnny Comes Marching Home, Based on a True Story, Lovers Who Wander \u2014 which documented the evolution of Kempner\u2019s provocative songwriting and the band\u2019s tightly wound instrumental rapport.<\/p>\n
In the years since the Del-Lords hung up their spurs, the band\u2019s members have trod notable individual paths. Kempner emerged as an acclaimed solo artist with a pair of acclaimed solo albums, Tenement Angels and Saving Grace, played reunion gigs with the Dictators, and collaborated extensively with first-generation rock \u2019n\u2019 roll legend and fellow Bronx native Dion (who co-wrote the poignant Elvis Club track \u201cEveryday\u201d with Kempner). Ambel accumulated extensive credentials as a solo artist and member of the Yayhoos, as well as hired-gun guitar hero (for Steve Earle, among others), producer (for the Bottle Rockets, Nils Lofgren and countless others) and proprietor of the now-legendary East Village nightspot the Lakeside Lounge. Funaro continued to ply his percussive trade with Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, and joined forces with Kempner and Dion in the short-lived but fondly-remembered Little Kings. Meanwhile, the Del-Lords\u2019 reputation continued to expand in the band\u2019s absence, retaining a place in the hearts of longtime fans while resonating with new generations of listeners.<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s reunion came about unexpectedly, after a Spanish promoter\/superfan\u2019s offer to book a Del-Lords tour prompted the original quartet to reform for a string of live dates in Spain, as well as some low-key gigs at the Lakeside Lounge, for which the band was pseudonymously billed as \u201cElvis Club.\u201d Deciding that it would be nice to have some new material to play on stage, they worked up some new tunes, which they recorded for the limited-edition tour EP Under Construction. The musical results stoked the musicians\u2019 interest in continuing their rekindled collaboration on a longer-term basis. Although founding bassist Manny Caiati, now a family-law attorney working with at-risk children, was unable to continue his participation after the Spanish tour due to his other commitments, Kempner, Ambel and Funaro decided to forge ahead with an album of new material.<\/p>\n
The making of Elvis Club \u2014 whose title is a reference to a favorite anecdote from the band\u2019s early days, in which a passing prostitute bestowed the eponymous sobriquet upon the then-pompadoured combo \u2014 was a substantially different experience from the band\u2019s prior recording projects. With Ambel producing the band for the first time, and the sessions taking place at his Brooklyn studio Cowboy Technical Services, the band was able to record on its own terms and in its own time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a big departure from every record we\u2019ve made in the past,\u201d Ambel observes. \u201cPlaying with the guys felt effortless and natural, and it was fantastic to build this thing ourselves, from the ground up. We made the record we wanted to make, based on our own enjoyment. That\u2019s as good as it gets for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking with Eric as producer really opened up the musical palette,\u201d Kempner notes. \u201cHe was never at a loss for ideas, and he\u2019s quickly inside the music and hears everything from all angles. He can take ideas, including my own, digest the intent, and more often than not, come up with a tweaked version of the idea that\u2019s better than the one suggested. He also knows his way around the lunch options in the neighborhood, which is a crucial contribution, and has the best coffee of any studio I\u2019ve ever worked in.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of that,\u201d Kempner continues, \u201cEric\u2019s playing has really expanded. Other than \u2018Everyday,\u2019 he plays all the leads on the record. That in itself was a big sea change for us, but he kept coming up with ideas and I loved every one of them. The same was true with Frank; his playing has grown tall and strong, and busted a hole in our ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n
With no permanent fourth member at the time, the band began cutting tracks for Elvis Club with some notable guest bassists, namely ex-Suicide Commandos\/Beat Rodeo vet Steve Almaas, Ambel\u2019s Yayhoos bandmate Keith Christopher, and Ron Sexsmith\/Ani DiFranco sideman Jason Mercer. Eventually, it became clear that Michael \u201cDuke\u201d DuClos, who came on board in the latter stages of recording, was the man for the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just fit in instantly,\u201d Kempner says of DuClos, a seasoned vet whose extensive resume includes a stint playing alongside Funaro in Cracker. \u201cA great guy, a great player, a total wise-ass, and the only man to have played with both Pete Townshend and Buddy Hackett!\u201d<\/p>\n
Now operating on their own terms and free from the music-biz politics that ruled artists\u2019 lives back in the day, the Del-Lords \u2014 older, wiser and more determined than ever \u2014 are now back to finish what they started.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just going to get out there and take it to the people, as they say,\u201d Kempner asserts, adding, \u201cWe\u2019re doing this now for no other reason other than that we all want to, and that alone is a huge change. Back in the \u201980s, everything in our lives depended on it, and with that came a lot of pressure. But now, we have no obligations, and we\u2019re no longer on the hamster wheel of record\/tour\/record\/tour etc. The future is wide open at this point. We will just keep pushing on, with no due dates and no deadlines, just making it up as we go along.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew how lucky I was to have a band this good that related to my songs, and this time that feeling was more pronounced than ever,\u201d Kempner concludes. \u201cNow I can take a step back and just marvel at how great Eric and Frank, and now Duke, are. They are good enough to play with absolutely anyone, but they\u2019re still happy to play my songs. That really is an honor. But don\u2019t tell them that, because they\u2019ll want more money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.conqueroo.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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