Adoring fans of ’90s blues bands – whether their fingertips are calloused from rifling through LPs in bins at record store shops or not – are likely familiar with The Loved Ones. Spawned in Oakland and led by Bart Davenport, the band isn’t to be confused with at least two other bands with the same name (one from Australia, the other from Philadelphia). This crew made a name for itself by opening for Junior Wells and John Lee Hooker.
The Loved Ones disbanded due to Davenport’s desire to record mellower music and play chiller concerts, but they reconvened intermittently in the ensuing years. Now the band is back again, this time with a new collection carrying the exclamatory title LATEST HITS! that came out late last month via SofaBurn/Lovemonk. The Loved Ones’ ambitions don’t end there; the band is also planning to tour, leapfrogging from the West Coast to the Netherlands to Spain.
Busy as The Loved Ones are at the moment, Davenport graciously granted us time to participate in The Bad Penny Passport, in which we touch base with musicians across the world to get their recommendations of bands in the area where they live, the genres they enjoy and so on. Below are Davenport’s picks of his go-to groups in Los Angeles, preceded by a taste of The Loved Ones’ new material.
Bart Davenport’s Top 10 Favorite L.A. Bands
Other Delights
Writer, producer and in-demand session drummer, Robin MacMillan has done something extraordinary assembling this A-Team of players. While Aaron M. Olson and Adron could easily make this top ten list for their solo projects, their contributions to Other Delights are no less crucial. Adron’s otherworldly non-lyrical soprano and spaghetti flavored guitar interweave with Aaron’s wrecking crew level bass and occasional midnight cowboy harmonica. Andrew Dorsett could be the Brian Auger of his generation with his cheeky Wander-licks on organ riding on a magic carpet of jazzy Wurlitzer chords. Meanwhile Robin sets the pace with a type of persuasive drumming not heard since your favorite Morricone soundtracks were recorded. Other Delights got their name from Herb Alpert and their sound is appropriately an ambitious mix of exotica, bossa nova, pop instrumental and plastic jazz. Get the album. Go to their show. I guarantee you’ll be grinning for hours afterwards.
Street Fruit
Philipp Minnig and Hans Dobratz go way back. They’ve been summoning the spirits together onstage since the late 90s. Their new group, Street Fruit is easily their best yet. Phil’s heavy wah-wah riffs and Hans’ existential frontman vibes find a perfect match with dynamic drummer Tiffanie Lanmon and stylishly pointed bassist Cyrus Gengras. I can tell these people love playing together and their chemistry is infectious. Each member does something uniquely their own and the four fit together like a jigsaw.
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