Hear This

The Delta 72
Blast from the past and then some, the overdriven Delta 72 make you want to do the watusi or shimmy-bop until the weasel goes pop. The Philadelphia foursome put on a show full of funky-monkey beats, trippy organ grinding, squiggly sound FX, quasi-JB horns, magical vibes, and six-string slashfests of the punk, surf, slide, and cry-baby-wah persuasions (with monster reverb and megacrunch intact). Their recent Touch and Go album, The Soul of a New Machine, packs an irrepressible power punch by wedding the visceral soulfulness of old-school R&B with the brazen intensity of underground alternarock. OK, so they occasionally lounge in bubbly diversions for a martini or two, but that's just to catch their breath. Polyester and kitsch definitely take a back seat to pompadours and poodle skirts. In the world of the Delta 72, it's all about sweat and more sweat.

-- Sam Prestianni

The Delta 72 appear with Man or Astro-Man? on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 9 p.m. at Bimbo's 365 Club, 1025 Columbus (at Chestnut). Measles and Spoonbender open. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door; call 474-0365.