Death of Samantha - If Memory Serves Us Well (St. Valentine)

Back in the ’80s, Death of Samantha dominated Cleveland, OH’s underground rock scene with their off-kilter brand of rock’n‘roll fueled by bizarro live shows and a twisted sense of humor. By assembling the core elements that made local compatriots like Rocket From The Tombs and The Pagans so great, along with guitar-heavy rock like The Rolling Stones and Johnny Thunders, as well as the art-damage of Iggy & the Stooges, early Lou Reed and The Doors, they crafted their own Midwestern sound with a handful of seminal recordings on Homestead Records. Now, 24 years after their last album, 1989’s Come All Ye Faithless, the original lineup of vocalist/guitarist John Petkovic, lead guitarist Doug Gillard, bassist David James and drummer Steve-O has finally reunited for a new recording of songs from their entire career for an updated “best of”-type compilation.

To be perfectly honest, the versions of the songs presented here completely outdo all of the original recordings by far. Recorded as a live rehearsal for their single reunion show of 2011 at Cleveland’s Beachland Ballroom, If Memory Serves Us Well shows the band aging gracefully, the years of wisdom marking these takes with a stroke of heaviness exacerbated by a frenetic excitement at being the unit once again. The guitars are quite simply explosive, at times dancing around once another in perfect sync like Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden, at others veering off in different directions with the controlled reckless abandon of MC5‘s Fred “Sonic” Smith and Wayne Kramer. The rhythm section is solid as ever, keeping the songs focused as they thunder in the air. Even Petkovic’s voice has matured into a manic Jim Morrison drawl, making songs like “Now It’s Your Turn (To Be a Martyr)” and “Couldn’t Forget ‘Bout That (One Item)” all the more powerful. It’s all of rock’s primeval godhead glory packed into 75-minutes of pure, unadulterated energy.

If you missed them the first time around, now’s your chance. Blast If Memory Serves Us Well and discover the sheer force that is Death of Samantha. Word is, they’ll be re-issuing their back catalog and recording a new album this year. 2014 is turning out to be a great year for music.