Fetchin Bones
Cabin Flounder

In the hypothetical ranking of unjustly forgotten bands, the Fetchin Bones would surely be at the top. Key artists of the North Carolina music scene (Charlotte, to be precise), their records are hidden gems of the eighties.

"Cabin Flounder" is their debut and perhaps best work, foreshadowing grunge and much of the pop-rock (the serious kind) of the decades to come. Fetchin Bones draw from the most genuine traditions of the southern United States: country and blues, but in their songs there are also swing and rockabilly, played with an energy and melodic sense that is over the top. On guitar was Gary White, on bass Danna Pentes, and on drums Marc Mueller; alongside traditional rock instruments, there are accordions, piano, violin, and country guitars. The band's strength was Hope Nocholls, one of the best singers I've ever listened to (in rock), captivating, compelling, and sensual at the same time, sometimes hoarse reminiscent of Joplin, other times as nonchalant as Cervenka, she is the added value of their songs, a source of inspiration and reference for female groups that followed like L7 and Hole.

Their spectacular hard-blues and hard-country music became famous on small American college radios before recording their first album in 1985, which gave life to the vibrant local scene. As often happens with the best southern bands, their music is music that burns and blazes, sometimes possessed like the Gun Club, sometimes paranoid like X, with themes that contribute like the Replacements and Husker Du to give dignity to adolescent issues. These compositions are raw, almost rustic, lively like folk songs they capture the spirit of the rural American storytellers using a musical language that revives those roots, updating them to their era, creating a style that would become a model for the future.

After three more good albums, the band disbanded, and Hope Nicholls lent her talent to Sugarsmack (equally great, but a whole different story). Cabin Flounder remains one of the sincerest and brightest examples of rock 'n roll from the eighties.

What can I say, then, a recommendation for those seeking hidden treasures, definitely to be rediscovered.