For the past 20 years, Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss have made passionate, raucous music in Quasi. In the beginning, their partnership was marital as well as musical, but it continued past their divorce and concurrent with their work in other bands: Coomes in Heatmiser with Elliott Smith when Quasi began, and later as a guest with Built To Spill; Weiss as a member of Sleater-Kinney, Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks and Wild Flag. Mole City (Kill Rock Stars) is a culmination of Quasi’s many strengths: its oversaturated and distorted sound, its singsong and shouted melodies, its controlled abandon. Coomes will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Quasi feature.
Coomes: I don’t love the word “Zamrock,” but that’s what is used to label the rock ‘n’ roll that was produced in early- and mid-’70s Zambia. I don’t really know how this scene came together—Zambia became independent from Britain in ’64, but it was still in the Anglo/S. African cultural sphere, where it would have had access to the British and American rock of the ‘60s, but in a remote and decontextualized way. That is my best guess. In any case, the fairly consistent basic template for these bands (e.g., Amanaz, Ngozi Family, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, The Peace, WITCH) is heavy rock along the lines of Sabbath or Cream, super-fuzzed lead guitar all over the place, chord-based songs that almost sound derived from the Velvet Underground, super-raw production and pretty rudimentary playing … beautiful! Some bands incorporated more African elements into their sound, some less, but it all feels pretty African in sprit, even when it’s straight rock ‘n’ roll. A lot of this stuff has been reissued here and there over the last few years. My Ancestors by Chrissy Zebby Tembo is maybe the best gateway into this scene. Fantastic.
Video after the jump.
