Dodge Main

Album review

It's little more than a jam session of tunes old and new from various sources by a group of friends, but what a group of friends to have around! Legendary MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, fellow Detroit music figure of renown Scott Morgan, and Motor City-via-Australian Deniz Tek of Radio Birdman make up Dodge Main, with help from bassist Paul Ill and regular Kramer drummer Brock Avery. With Kramer overseeing production, the result is a hearty celebration of Detroit's rock music history, along with a few surprising but fun detours along the way. The three lead members all tackle main vocals at various points, with the others providing backup as they go. Arguably the originals in all cases should be chased down first, but in the hands of the group everything sounds like they're ready to kick butt and take names, while the new numbers are energetic, great romps. "City Slang," originally recorded with Morgan in Sonic's Rendezvous Band, sets the tone from the start, Kramer and Tek more than adequately filling the shoes of the departed Fred Smith. He also takes the lead on gloriously loud and in-your-face takes on the MC5's "Future/Now" and the album-concluding Stooges cover "I Got a Right," Tek and Kramer's guitars as blasting as they need to be. Tek's moments of vocal glory occur with the blasting, tough grooves of "I 94," his spoken word sections on "Fire Comin'," and the short snap of "100 Fools." Kramer, meanwhile, contributes a fantastic solo composition -- "Citizen of Time" -- which could have easily fit on his series of '90s solo albums, burning with righteous anger while the Ill/Avery rhythm section hits a solid swing. His other vocal lead is an inspired winner -- Jimmy Cliff's reggae classic "The Harder They Come," given a distinctly Detroit musical revamp.

© Ned Raggett /TiVo