Wade Jenner once saw Eric Campbell & the Dirt perform at the recently closed and sorely missed Railway Club. After this experience, he invited them to record at Eagle Time Records, a studio he put together in the building where Joe Philliponi, the Godfather of Seymour Street and co-founder of Vancouver’s infamous Penthouse nightclub, once housed the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. and Etta James. The Dirt laid down some 80 hours of jams in the wee hours of the morning over the course of a couple months in that haunted space, and the best nuggets formed the basis of their sophomore album, Western Violence & Brief Sensuality. Apparently if you listen hard enough, you can hear the ghost of Louis Armstrong making spaghetti sauce.
I had the pleasure of seeing the Dirt open for Diane Coffee in February, and they put on a hell of an entertaining show. Campbell has that spark of a great performer, channeling and directing a moment. Seeing him bring it live, there’s little wonder why he felt compelled to come out of the shadows of blues-rock outfit No Sinner to take center stage himself. He is doubtlessly going to bring it at the album release party, April 28th at the Cobalt.
Western Violence & Brief Sensuality marks a valiant attempt to capture Campbell’s ineffable energy, emboldened by guitarist Erik Mulder, drummer Colby Morgan, now-former bassist Emily Haine and the soaring violin of Emily Bach. The album has a richer sound than their 2013 debut, Kill Your Love, imbued with more outlaw-country grunge. If you can’t wait until the show, check it out below now below.
More about: Eric Campbell & the Dirt
