THE STOOGES | THE STOOGES
The Stooges debut is simplistic and childish, but considered a rock n roll classic all the same. It became essential in the garage-rock moment of years to come and the punk rock movement of the 1970’s.
The sleazy wah-pedal ooze that opens the album gives way to Iggy Pop’s dry as a bone vocal leanings, aping a rawer energy from Bo Diddly style drums and The Byrds guitar chording. “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, arguably the greatest track in the band’s arsenal and one of the greatest rock songs of all time helped set a tone for future punk, garage-rock, and even metal music. It mixes corrosive fuzz guitars with sleigh bells and single-note pounding piano. The entire riff is only 3 simple chords repeating, but feels monumental. It’s a key exercise in how simplicity can yield the best results. As the album plays between gritty dirges and playful rock riffing, the overall result feels like a band barely scratching the surface of what they’re capable of. It has a lot of innocennce embedded in it’s shallow layers, which is what makes it charming. Even the Rolling Stones were too “good” to pull that off.
The band was slightly short on material and was asked to write more content before the album’s completion, and thus parts of it do sound stretched. Iggy stands completely at ease, unfazed, bordering on disinterest through every corner of the album, as if he could take or leave the entire process. While the recording doesn’t capture all the debauchery of their live shows, the confidence he exudes in his nonchalance can still be heard and is much of what created the icon he ended up becoming. He inevitably tapped into more of his hyperactive side as time passed as his stage presence and acts self-mutilation and spreading peanut butter across his chest would become a large part of his legacy.
Given Iggy’s relationship with peanut butter, we’ve mixed it with Jack Daniels whiskey and Angostura bitters to play into the childishly sweet yet biting impact the album creates. Vernor’s naturally hails from Detroit the group’s hometown.
