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New York City’s most diabolical rhythm and blues street gang aren’t back, they never left. In dark times, DADDY LONG LEGS continue to shine their light everywhere they go, leaving a piece of themselves on stage every night because it’s in them and it’s got to come out.
Now the sharp-dressed trio-turned-quartet make their post-pandemic return to the studio to present their latest LP: Street Sermons (Yep Roc, 2023). An album of the times, for the times, by a band of the people. Written and recorded against a backdrop of political tension, riots in the streets and a deeply uncertain future, these 12 new tracks are a testament to triumph over adversity.
In the first moments of Street Sermons, DADDY LONG LEGS beseech their troubled congregation to “Work with one another/Not against each other” as the Brooklyn band evolve into a chain gang that sounds like they’re emanating through the cracks of a hot and sticky subway station.
During the depths of the lockdown, frontman/harpman Brian Hurd experienced a terrifying dream and awoke in a cold sweat. To exorcise the terror he immediately scribbled down his memories of the dream that became the album's first single, “Nightmare,” a scream-worthy rocker about dealing with a world gone wrong: “We’re livin’ a nightmare and this world is condemned; I’ll see you if this nightmare ever ends.”
Meanwhile! “Rockin’ My Boogie” lets the listener know that when it’s our time to go, DADDY LONG LEGS will be the band leading the funeral parade. “Harmonica Razor” is a dangerous rhythm and blues instrumental which shows off Hurd’s prowess on the instrument, and “Star” proves guitarist Murat Aktürk and drummer Josh Styles can cool things down and deliver a country blues ballad of the highest order when the time calls for it.
Other choice tracks include “Been a Fool Once,” a defiant boot-stomper standing at the crossroads between rhythm and blues and junk shop glam, and “You’ll Die Too,” a socially-conscious number that channels both Bo Diddley and MC5.
The album has an extremely cinematic sound, especially evident on tracks like “Silver Satin” where the band takes the listener on a trip through New York City’s underground rail system with a bottle in hand concealed by a brown paper bag.
One of the album’s most cathartic moments is found in “Two Dollar Holler.” “Our first performances as a band were on street corners and at house parties in New York City, and the pandemic brought us back to where it all started,” Hurd explains. “The song's lyrics are all about the interplay that happens between the performer and passersby on the street. ‘In one hand and out the other/Can you spare a dime my brother,’ It’s all too real for us. We have lived this and this is the result.”
DADDY LONG LEGS fled the madness of the city to record Street Sermons at Old Soul Studios in Catskill, NY with Oakley Munson (Black Lips/Nude Party) producing and stepping in on organ and piano. The LP also features some guest appearances from John Sebastian (Lovin’ Spoonful) on “Ding-Ding Man” and Wreckless Eric of “Whole Wide World” fame on “Nightmare” and “Silver Satin.”
Over the last decade these gentlemen have burned down houses the world over with their explosive fire ceremony and have amassed a cult-like following all their own with a tough to beat reputation for being one of the finest live acts on the road today. Their stripped-back roots sound and in-your-face intensity has garnered them fans in their hometown and overseas, where they've toured with such kindred spirits as The Damned, The Sonics, Nikki Lane, Hurray for the Riff Raff and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and even shared the stage with some of their heroes like the late Wilko Johnson.
Brian Hurd says that New York City really didn’t have an underground blues scene when he moved to the city. “I took matters into my own hands and began playing harmonica on the streets and at house parties around New York City,” Hurd says. “I wanted to be in a great rock n’ roll band more than anything and I didn’t think that was gonna be possible unless I had a deeper understanding of this thing called the blues. Once I got below the surface I was hooked and it made the rest of my musical interests obsolete. This was the first time I had really heard amplified blues harmonica and I thought ‘Where has this been all my life?’”
“I first met Murat Aktürk (DADDY LONG LEGS’ guitarist) at CBGBs and he was definitely one of the sharpest dressed individuals I had encountered on the Lower East Side. We started out as rivals and became drinking buddies hanging out near his apartment on 7th Street and spending a lot of time at the infamous Mars Bar until the wee wee hours of the night Josh Styles (DADDY LONG LEGS’ drummer) was hosting a popular monthly DJ night called Smashed Blocked at Beauty Bar on 14th Street and it was definitely the place to be in those days. We were impressed with Josh’s 45 collection and knowledge of rare and obscure records. We started out as rivals all playing the part of frontman in our own respective bands. That’s why when we started playing shows together our stage prowess was already well crafted. When DADDY LONG LEGS officially hit the scene it was indeed showtime, as this musical brotherhood was formed over a mutual love of wild and unhinged rock n’ roll and rural rhythm and blues music.”
The boys recently returned from their first tours in Australia and New Zealand and their previous album, Lowdown Ways (Yep Roc, 2019), reached #4 on the Billboard Blues Chart. The band has received high praise from Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, who calls DADDY LONG LEGS’ sound “Chicago blues fired at the moon played by the demented children of the Pretty Things” and from No Depression who heralded them “the coolest, most authentically groovy band you’ve never heard of.”
Keep an ear out for Street Sermons, available worldwide on March 17th, 2023 from Yep Roc Records