The Sales Bros.

Hired Guns (Perseverance)

Although best known for backing Iggy Pop and David Bowie, Austin-based drummer Hunt Sales (he of the “Lust for Life” intro) and his guitarist brother Tony pay tribute to the Stax/Volt renaissance on this previously unreleased 1979 demo. Recorded in a Beachwood Canyon, Calif., basement that had once been a swimming pool, Hired Guns mines a sound right out of time. The sons of Soupy accent blue-eyed soul rave-ups such as “Buzz in Your Hive” and “My Baby” with subtle garage rock gnashes, reconciling the Sam & Dave legacy into the heart of L.A.’s late-1970s power-pop explosion. It’s not a perfect fit, but the call-and-response playfulness of “Someone’s Gonna Lose” and James Brown-style pleadings on “Let Me In” are oddly endearing. Sadly, the Sales Bros.’ soul-revue ambitions were derailed by Tony’s near-fatal car accident right after their debut engagement at the Starwood, leaving Hired Guns as a fond footnote to history.

***

This article appears in August 1 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

Greg Beets was born in Lubbock on the day Richard Nixon was elected president. He has covered music for the Chronicle since 1992, writing about everyone from Roky Erickson to Yanni. Beets has also written for Billboard,Uncut, Blurt, Elmore, and Pop Culture Press. Before his digestive tract cried uncle, he co-published Hey! Hey! Buffet!, an award-winning fanzine about all-you-can-eat buffets.