Super rock heroes

Fleshtones are still ready to dig in

by Brian Goslow

The last time I saw Fleshtones' singer Peter Zaremba, he was disappearing into the Cambridge night after a long evening at T.T. the Bear's. He had spent hours conversing with the crowd before sweating out his soul on the stage till last call. Then, the frontman declared, it was party time, ignoring the rest of his band members who were getting ready to head home to New York City. As long as there was another rock-and-roll band playing across town, the night was still young.

Born out of a Long Island garage in 1977, the Fleshtones quickly established themselves as one of the leaders and gathering forces of the garage-rock movement with the release of their 1979 call-to-arms "American Beat." They then said hello to the world with Roman Gods (I.R.S.). The album contributed "Shadow Line" to Urggh: A Music War, a movie that featured live performances by more than two dozen of the period's best underground bands. Zaremba was named host of I.R.S.'s monthly MTV program The Cutting Edge; and fans hoped the exposure might push the group's second album, Hexbreaker!, into the mainstream.

But radio, and the Fleshtones, weren't ready for Super Rock to hit the big time. "I thought we might, but, I thought, we were too peculiar," Zaremba says. "We didn't care to a degree. We were very cavalier in our approach to the business and threw away thousands of chances. I don't regret it, but I'm still trying to understand it . . . what I can remember of it."

After losing their major-label push, the Fleshtones (who perform this Friday at Dinny's in a show put together by Worcester Phoenix writer John O'Neill) carried on, winning the lifesaving report of French fans (who they rewarded by playing their 20th-anniversary show in Paris), and continuing to release a high-quality recording every few years (including Fleshtones Vs. Reality, the Peter Buck-produced Beautiful Light, and Laboratory of Sound), which longtime fans would be well served to search out in the import bins. "Our rebirth started with Laboratory," Zaremba says. "It was a good transition; we learned a lot from Steve [producer Albini]. We learned we didn't need anyone to help us, and the new album is a product of that."

The recently released More Than Skin Deep (Ichiban) could be called the Fleshtones' campfire album, the perfect partner for the Beach Boys Party album. "This one was definitely more relaxed," Zaremba explains. "We didn't feel [that] we had to cram every thought into every song. Each track was done in one or two takes." The disc opens with Zaremba setting his high-school paranoia aside once and for all on "I'm Not a Sissy Anymore." A playful take on Peter Frampton's "Show Me the Way" opens the acoustically powered "Laugh It Off," while "My Love Machine" recalls Hexbreaker!, complete with Ramones-like harmonies. Saxman Gordon Spaeth's wailing harmonica kicks "I Wanna Feel Something Now" into high gear, with the Fleshtones searching for a kick from anything -- skiing down a dangerous hill, pills, alcohol -- before confessing that having checked every door, the prize was waiting back home. For guitarist Keith Streng, it's his first child. For Zaremba, a newly adopted son, Sergei. "You may have heard him in the background," says the proud pop. "He likes percussion. All kids like rock and roll, and music in general. It's the adults who have the problem."

Domestic happiness doesn't mean the Fleshtones aren't looking forward to the next gig. "We still dig seeing the audience enjoying it as much as we do. We're essentially fans, and we're always glad to see bands like us who are music fans instead of music types."

They're hooking into a whole new generation of groups who love the same music as themselves, including Zaremba's current fave, Boston's Upper Crust. They'll be joining their counterparts at shows throughout the summer, including the Firecracker 500 in Iowa, SleazeFest in Chapel Hill, and the Mile High Festival in Denver. And probably causing a little friction when they get back home.

Streng's "Smash Crash" suggests the guitarist's come home to find the locks changed more than once, while he proudly declares the smell of decay, is something to be proud of on "Dig In." The mood slows for the American Graffiti-ish instrumental, "Blow Job"; but it's the party sounds that get the crowds dancing and drinking (and subsequently paying the bills), so they declare "we gotta make some money" on "God Damn It." Always the kings of the dance hall, the Fleshtones deliver "Gentleman's Twist," and "Dance with the Ghoulman," continuing their long-running fascination with monster-like characters.

"We don't exploit them to the extent the Cramps do," says Zaremba, whose "Screaming Skull" (from Hexbreaker!) remains one of the all-time great Halloween classics. "We don't become them. We like putting wool on our heads or cutting ping-pong balls and putting them in our eyes. We like do-it-yourself monsters for do-it-yourself rock and roll."

On "Anywhere You Go," Zaremba sings about the days he thought he had all the answers. "A lot of what I do is from being a child of the '60s, wanting to be part of the party scene when I was growing up. I'm into hooking into the vibe those guys hooked into whether through musical intelligence or pure knuckleheadism."

The group continue their endless search for "a little somethin' to keep my heart a pumpin'" on "My Kinda Lovin'," one of those tunes that leaves a dance floor drenched, while Streng's "The Crossroads Are Coming" declares, "there's no looking back, gotta make a decision, no regrets." Don't interpret that as a band thinking about calling it a day -- they're quite proud of their chosen profession.

"The most gratifying position is one you create for yourself," Zaremba says contentedly. "Make up a job, figure out what would be the most fun to do for a living. And this is it."

On the disc's final track, "Better Days," written by bassist Ken Fox, a song that would have won the Fleshtones a lot of Battle of the Bands back in the days from which their musical journey was cast, Zaremba sings, "I don't know a lot of things, and I don't have a lot to say." What he does know is the Fleshtones haven't finished the job they started more than two decades ago. "We play a little bit better, but not vastly," he says, modestly, "and I still play the organ as if I've never seen it before."

The Fleshtones play at 10 p.m. on June 12 at Dinny's. The Fearless Leaders and Free Radicals open. Admission is $5. Call 752-9667.