Friday, March 17, 2017

The Lids - Too Late




Artist: The Lids
Title: Too Late
Year: 2003
Label: Die Slaughterhaus
Tracks: 1.) Fool For You, 2.) Too Late, 3.) Something To Do

A couple years older, Benjamin Jay "Bobby Ubangi" Womack was a mentor to many of the young Atlanta musicians who would come to prominence in the mid-2000's. He was a member of the original version of Carbonas but parted ways after disagreements with the hardcore direction the band was going in and also a distaste for practicing. 


To make up for kicking a friend out of the band, Carbonas drummer Dave and his then-girlfriend Valery started a new band with BJ that would play the pop-influenced rock & roll he liked and also not be too worried about sounding tight or polished. Thus were born The Lids, a reference to the Sid & Marty Krofft Lidsville television show. 

This is The Lids' first and only 7", featuring BJ on guitar and vocals, Dave on drums, and Valery, future Angry Angle Alix Brown and a third girl I don't know anything about on backing vocals. Mark from Die Slaughterhaus would eventually play bass but I don't hear any bass on this record. The band would soon record an LP for Rip Off Records, play a Horizontal Action Blackout, and then break up by 2005. 

BJ dropped off the grid after The Lids broke up. A few years later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and re-activated his music career over his remaining time. Him and Jared from Black Lips turned their former joke band Gaye Blades into a semi-serious band and released two good 7"s. Bobby And The Soft Spots was kind of a re-configured Gaye Blades with BJ on vocals and would be the closest thing to The Lids he would do afterward. Lastly, he would record a minimalist LP and a few 7"s with friends backing him up under his Ubangi moniker. Sadly, BJ would pass in 2009. 

The Lids would have a big influence on subsequent music, bringing back simplistic fun to a budget rock scene that was veering toward hard rock in some places. Justin Champlin has stated The Lids were his main inspiration for starting Sneaky Pinks and Jesse Lortz his Fe Fi Fo Fums. 

Sample: here

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