Lost Classics: The Delta 72 “000”

They’re nobody’s buzz bands anymore. But since 1993, MAGNET has discovered and documented more great music than memory will allow. The groups may have broken up or the albums may be out of print, but this time, history is written by the losers. Here are some of the finest albums that time forgot but we remembered in issue #75, plus all-new additions to our list of Lost Classics.

:: THE DELTA 72
000 // Touch & Go, 2000
With the millennial dawn came this two-fisted war whoop from Philadelphia’s answer to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Lurking within the Delta 72’s hard-chiseled Stones thump and sinewy R&B groove was a pop sensibility that could’ve made the band a mainstream radio contender. From steaming, maracas-and-ass-shaking opener “Are You Ready?” (a Jagger-iffic rocker featuring Motown girl-group backing vocals) to dub-drenched funkadelic closer “Sun The Secret Prince,” there’s not a follicle out of place on OOO, the Delta 72’s third LP. One rumor circulating at the time: An uncredited Elliott Smith played on the album’s acoustic coda.

Catching Up: Foreman moved to Miami, got clean and sober and tours in Cat Power’s Dirty Delta Blues Band. Check in with Foreman via his blog. Keyboardist Sarah Stolfa, one of the surliest waitresses at Center City dive bar McGlinchey’s, turned the job into high art: Her images of bar patrons won the New York Times Magazine’s photography contest in 2004. Drummer Jason Kourkounis went on to play in Hot Snakes, Burning Brides, Bardo Pond and the Night Marchers.

“I Feel Fine”:
https://magnetmagazine.com/audio/IFeelFine.mp3