Play The Saints (73’ - 78’) (Live Official Bootleg)

If this ‘official live bootleg’ proves anything, it’s that there’s something uniquely thrilling in hearing Ed Kuepper return to the source and reanimate the songs he recorded, and released, with the best (and for some, the only true) line-up of The Saints. That group’s first three albums makes up one of the most perfect runs of garage-rock-meets-R&B you’ll ever hear; with Kuepper at the helm, the songs are reinvigorated with no flashy turns, no unnecessary flab, just the essence of each song, comprehensively nailed. Kuepper’s sensitive to both the historical significance of this music, but he’s not beholden to it; he simply knows that when something’s done right the first time, it often detracts from the material’s core to studiously rework or update. The Aints! breathe new life into this old, yet eternally relevant, material – it’s just such a joy to hear Kuepper fully at one with, and playing the shit out of, these songs.