The Stranger
You’ve never heard “Jesus Christ Pose” done like this. Sung by Pastor Pat Wright and her Total Experience Gospel Choir, the Soundgarden metal song becomes gospel-ized into a slow-boiling power ballad in the hands of Wheedle’s Groove, a loose agglomeration of youngish and oldish Seattle musicians with funkiness laced deep in their DNA. This radically repurposed “Jesus Christ Pose” is just one standout on “Kearney Barton,” a new nine-track album released by local label Light in the Attic on September 8. Recorded in the North Seattle Audio Recording studio of revered engineer Kearney Barton (Sonics, Wailers, Black on White Affair), it’s loaded with phenomenal cover versions and complemented by three strong originals. Matt Sullivan, along with engineer/percussionist Dylan Frombach and DJ Supreme scoured their vast collections to recommend an interesting array of songs for Wheedle’s Groove to interpret. Sullivan says, “It’s an honor to be involved in a project like this—Northwest music history in the making.”