79ers Gang - Expect the Unexpected
Ear Relevant - digging through my record collection and writing about some of my recent favorites
I don’t remember how I stumbled across this band. It might have been a Bandcamp feature and I certainly remember being intrigued by their Bandcamp page and album description, not to mention the eye-catching album cover by the artist Ceaux. The music of the 79ers Gang is described as “rooted in the unique traditions of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian culture.” This much is obvious on first listen to opening track “79ers Bout To Blow.” But what’s also immediately obvious is that these traditions are modernized with electronic elements to create something that sounds new, a collaboration between technology and tradition as much as it is a collaboration between two unlikely partners.
The band is fronted by two members that create a mythology around their connection: “79rs Gang originally formed in 2013 when Big Chief Romeo Bougere of the 9th Ward Hunters and Big Chief Jermaine Bossier of the 7th Ward Creole Hunters put their differences aside and came together to build a bridge with music.” The bridge extends beyond NOLA and has gained the attention of members of Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem to contribute to the album (but those namedrops are the least interesting thing about the album).
On Expect the Unexpected (2020, Sinking City Records), they utilize a variety of instruments: the kalimba, a solina string-ensemble synth, mellotron, tanbou (Haitian hand drum), a variety of brass and strings, multiple backing vocals. Repetitive chants, hip-hop rhymes, and percussion are important components throughout the album. Lyrically, the album is rooted in NOLA history, from centuries past to more recent years. “Stop the Water” is about Hurricane Katrina, complete with broken levees, unanswered prayers, the trauma of the event that exists in the city to this day. The spoken-word “History” goes through explores the city’s roots, both good and bad: Congo Square, slave trading, revolts, the history of Mardi Gras, Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, and Second Lines.
My Spilt Milk has a great in-depth interview with the band, their history, and the recording process. Excited to see what the group comes up with next. It’s below freezing in Chicago with a fine layer of snow and ice on the ground. I’m keeping the heat up with 79ers Gang.