Ladies and gentlemen, the New Brutarians!

Now here's a post I'm excited about! Yeah, I know: I'm pretty much always excited. But today I'm especially jazzed since I haven't had the occasion to write about world-renowned glam-punk pop artist Adam Turkel in almost 20 years. Well ole' Adam T has got new tunes cooking with his duo the New Brutarians. The former Beatings lead dude is on guitar/piano/vocals while fashion model Christina Wright plays drums and bass. This band has been at it for a few years now, but it's about to release its first 7" record on English Disco Records (who recently released Frankie Delmane's most excellent Street Penetration). This St. Petersburg, Florida based duo does the the lo-fi glam/proto-punk thing with a clear nods to many of the biggest influences on Adam's music and art. I'm talking Lou Reed/the Velvet Underground, Johnny Thunders, Nikki Sudden, the Only Ones, and of course one Steven John Bator (among others). The New Brutarians are a breath of fresh air for a couple of reasons. First of all, you don't hear a whole lot of bands these days that sound anything like this. Just as importantly, Adam and Christina have absorbed all of these influences and added much of their own style and point of view. They've created a wonderful update on a classic sound. In advance of the 7", the band has previewed two of its three tracks online. "Little Hit Of You" is an upbeat toe-tapper evocative of poppy New York Dolls. It's the most straight-forward punk track Adam has done since The Beatings. And if you dug The Beatings, you are 100% likely to dig this as well. Equally impressive is the band's rendition of the Leonard Cohen standard "I'm Your Man". It takes guts to take on a song as seemingly untouchable as this one. And given that Leonard Cohen is a massive influence on the New Brutarians, you might have expected a somewhat faithful version of "I'm Your Man". Instead the band gives the song a different arrangement and a totally new feel. It's a brilliant take on an iconic tune - fusing the band's love for noisy proto-punk with genuine affection for the source material.

The New Brutarians will be rounding out their debut single with another great track: the Velvets-inspired "(Rock Me) I'm A Dadaist". Be sure to follow the band on Facebook and Instagram for updates on the new record and a couple more that are in the works. And locals will not want to miss the band's first show in Tampa this coming Saturday night, February 29th at the Red Star Rock Bar in Ybor City. It's going to be amazing bill as the New Brutarians join Kevin K and the fabulous Gino and the Goons! Adam will also be showing his art and spinning tunes all night. More info here!



-L.R.

https://thenewbrutarians.bandcamp.com/ 
https://soundcloud.com/adam-turkel-836476637 
https://www.facebook.com/thenewbrutarians/ 
https://www.instagram.com/thenewbrutarians/ 
https://www.facebook.com/English-Disco-Records-111600386938652/