School Days: High School

MC5: High School

[purchase]

I have a sneaking suspicion that Detroit's MC5 are one of those bands that a lot of music fans have classified without actually hearing more than a few songs. While many music fans surely know MC5 form the hard and heavy live version of "Kick Out The Jams," fewer have heard the band's failed attempt at commercial success that was the Back In The USA album released in 1970.

If you haven't heard it, you might be surprised by its "retro" sound. Produced by rock-critic-and-future-Springsteen-manager Jon Landau, Back In The USA is one of the few rock albums that both looks back and forward at the same time. While paying homage to the straightforward early rock of the late 1950's (including covers of both Little Richard and Chuck Berry), MC5's sound also predicts the power pop and punk styles that would later come to fruition in the 1970's (e.g., Big Star, The Ramones).

Note: This is the second song I've posted this week featuring the lyric "Sis Boom Bah."

[Read the AMG Review.]