MC5 Announce New Album "Heavy Lifting" + Share "Boys Who Play With Matches"
Wayne Kramer and Bob Ezrin | Photo Credit: Margaret Saadi Kramer
The revolutionary legacy of the MC5 continues with the new album Heavy Lifting. This release will be the first new music from the band in over 50 years (the last album was 1971’s High Time). Heavy Lifting also marks the first album released after the death of founding member Wayne Kramer. Fortunately, Wayne Kramer was able to record music for the new album giving fans a final sendoff.
Last November in an interview with Uncut magazine, Wayne Kramer spoke about the motivation behind bringing The MC5 back for a new album:
"Live long and stay creative. This is my attitude. And this album continues from where High Time left off. In that, I think it's an artist's responsibility to reflect the times they're going through. And I think that we made an album that is in sync with where we're at today and the challenges that we're facing, and that carries a positive message."
Forged in the industrial jungle of Detroit, The MC5 were one of the loudest and most electrifying bands to emerge out of the sixties. The band took the garage rock sound of the era and introduced heavy doses of blues, jazz, and soul. The band would lay the groundwork for what would later be called punk rock and influence bands such as The Ramones and fellow Detroiters The White Stripes. The radical politics of The MC5 would inspire the activism of bands such as The Clash and Rage Against the Machine.
HEAVY LIFTING TRACKLISTING
01. Heavy Lifting (Feat. Tom Morello)
02. Barbarians At The Gate
03. Change, No Change
04. The Edge Of The Switchblade (Feat. William Duvall + Slash)
05. Black Boots (Feat. Tim McIIrath)
06. I Am The Fun (The Phoney)
07. Twenty-Five Miles
08. Because Of Your Car
09. Boys Who Play With Matches
10. Blind Eye (Feat. Dennis Thompson)
11. Can’t Be Found (Feat. Vernon Reid + Dennis Thompson)
12. Blessed Release
13. Hit It Hard (Feat. Joe Berry)
Kramer recorded Heavy Lifting with legendary producer Bob Ezrin (Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Kiss). Oakland singer/songwriter Brad Brooks co-wrote with Kramer on 12 of the 13 tracks on Heavy Lifting. Original drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson who passed away last May also provided his final recordings on Heavy Lifting with appearances on two of the tracks. Heavy Lifting features a killer line-up of rock greats playing alongside The MC5 including Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), William DuVall (Alice in Chains), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Don Was, and Tim McIlrath (Rise Against). Other guest musicians
include Vicki Randle (Aretha Franklin), Stevie Salas (Parliament Funkadelic, Rod Stewart), Abe Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney), Winston Watson Jr. (Bob Dylan), and Joe Berry (M83).
Heavy Lifting arrives when The MC5 is experiencing a renewed appreciation. The band will be honored at this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Heavy Lifting will drop the day before the induction ceremony, proving that despite being enshrined among the great bands of the past, doesn’t mean The MC5 are not a relevant creative force today.
"The MC5 represents a kind of uncompromising vision of the future and that is eternal…the flame keeps burning on.”
- said Wayne Kramer.
Heavy Lifting will be released via earMUSIC on October 18th. The single, “Boys Who Play with Matches” is out digitally now. Pre-orders for Heavy Lifting on CD, vinyl, and digital downloads in addition to bonus 2CD and bonus 2LP can be placed here
