Tex Perkins covers Allen Toussaint with his Fat Rubber Band.
Every day we highlight great new music added to the Double J playlist.
New to Double J? Here's how you can tune in, no matter where you are.
Tex Perkins hasn't released a new single in a mighty long time.
He's given us so much incredible music over the past 40 years that his return is obviously exciting. But to hear him tackle an Allen Toussaint classic with his peerless confidence and cool is an unexpected delight.
Tex's latest group, who back him up here, is The Fat Rubber Band, which features revered Aussie blues guitarist Matt Walker.
They'll have a full record out later in the year, but before releasing that they're testing the waters by releasing a couple of covers that inspired the making of that LP.
One of them is the classic 'Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky', written by Toussaint, the New Orleans songwriting legend, and most famously performed by Lee Dorsey in the late 60s. (If this all sounds familiar, perhaps it's because everything you do is funky like Lee Dorsey).
Perkins and co fit this song like a glove. The band is just the right amount of sleazy and swampy, while Tex doesn't attempt to mimic the vocal of the original, sounding precisely as you'd expect Tex Perkins to sound. We wouldn't have it any other way.
It's respectful without being a carbon copy. It captures the spirit of the song without trying to better it (because that'd be stupid and impossible). It's a gentle, fun and hugely endearing reintroduction to one of the great rock vocalists in our country's history and his excellent latest band
There's no release date for Tex Perkins and the Fat Rubber Band's new record yet, but stay tuned.
Check out Double J's Best New Music playlists on Spotify and Apple Music for more great new tunes.