It took an Australian label to bring back the early recordings of a New York band that thrived in the ’70s and ’80s punk scene and yet was never really of it. The Fleshtones—unlike many other garage revivalists—were not interested in finding common ground between decades or in creating a “pure” authenticity. They had to tightrope dance between surrender and ecstasy, while keeping a firm grasp of the beat.
In over 30 years the Fleshtones have refined their moves, but have seen no reason to radically rebuild a genre that still lifts us out of our cool. A group that wise about music deserves an American label daring enough to reissue all their classics.