The MC5 have released a new single, Can't Be Found. The track, which features contributions from Living Colour's Vernon Reid and original MC5 drummer Dennis 'Machine Gun' Thompson, is the follow-up to Boys Who Play With Matches, released in June.
Both Thompson and MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer have died since the band's upcoming album Heavy Lifting was recorded. The album – the follow-up to 1971's classic High Time – is scheduled for release on October 18, prior to the band’s induction to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
"Live long and stay creative is my attitude," Kramer told Uncut late last year. "This album continues from where High Time left off, in that I think it's an artist’s responsibility to reflect the times they're going through. We made an album that is in sync with the challenges we're facing today, and that carries a positive message."
Heavy Lifting, which was produced by Bob Ezrin and fronted by Bay Area singer Brad Brooks, was originally slated for release in October 2022 but never materialised. In late 2023 Kramer revealed it was scheduled to drop in the spring of 2024, but again the album didn't arrive. But earlier this year, in the wake of Kramer's death, Ezrin told Classic Rock that those involved in the recording, "feel a responsibility to make sure that his work is heard and he is celebrated."
"It's very heavy," Ezrin said. "It has a kind of sense of revolutionary message but also a good sense of humour. There's a little bit of heavy metal. There's quite a bit of funk. But it is a heavy record, and it's a guitar record left, right and centre, just a wall of guitars most of the time, and mostly driven by Wayne and his ethos. It's a snapshot of a guitar man at the height of his powers."
The album features a number of guest stars including Slash, Tom Morello, Alice in Chains frontman William DuVall, Don Was and Rise Against's Tim McIlrath. Other musicians on the album include Vicki Randle (Aretha Franklin), Stevie Salas (Parliament Funkadelic, Rod Stewart), Abe Laboriel Jr. (Paul McCartney), Winston Watson Jr. (Bob Dylan), and Joe Berry (M83).
Heavy Lifting will be available in single CD and LP editions, as well as double CD/LP sets that include a live album recorded by the MC50 live band, created in 2018 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band's debut album, Kick Out The Jams. The band starred Kramer alongside Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, Faith No More’s bassist Billy Gould, and frontman Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla). The live album also features a guest appearance by Mudhoney's Mark Arm, who fronted the touring DKT/MC5 version of the MC5 in 2004.
MC5: Heavy Lifting tracklist
1. Heavy Lifting (feat. Tom Morello)
2. Barbarians At The Gate
3. Change, No Change
4. The Edge Of The Switchblade (feat. William Duvall & Slash)
5. Black Boots (feat. Tim McIIrath)
6. I Am The Fun (The Phoney)
7. Twenty-Five Miles
8. Because Of Your Car
9. Boys Who Play With Matches
10. Blind Eye (feat. Dennis Thompson)
11. Can’t Be Found (feat. Vernon Reid & Dennis Thompson)
12. Blessed Release
13. Hit It Hard (feat. Joe Berry)
Additional Tracks (2CD/2LP)
1. Ramblin' Rose
2. Kick Out The Jams
3. Come Together
4. Motor City Is Burning
5. Borderline
6. Gotta Keep Movin'
7. Future/Now
8. Poison
9. Shakin' Street
10. Sister Anne
