Last month Nevada-based US band THE SEXTONES impressed all and sundry with their lovely cover of Jean Plum’s gorgeous 1975 Hi outing ‘Here I Go Again’. Totally respectful to the original, it showed that the band (childhood friends, Mark Sexton (guitar, vocals), Alexander Korostinsky (bass), Daniel Weiss (drums), and Christopher Sexton (piano)) totally understood the soul genre.
Now the boys follow that with another wonderful cover – and this time around they’ve dug out an even more obscure tune. Some might remember a 1975 song from Papa Bear and his Cubs, ‘You’re So Fine’. “Papa Bear” was Eddie Disnute and the “Cubs” were essentially his family and the song was the B side to ‘Sweetest Thing On This Side Of Heaven’. ‘You’re So Fine’ was always the in-demand item on the collectors scene but as only 200 copies were ever pressed up, the Subtropical original disc commands big bucks. In 2019 Athens of The North satisfied some of the demand with a reissue.
So back to the Sextones. Showing their love and knowledge of obscure soul, they now deliver a lovely version of ‘You’re So Fine’ .The band’s bassist Alexander Korostinsky says: “Lots of the songs we are drawn to are not recorded in fancy studios. It’s definitely a challenge to take on a song like this, because it needs to be very rough around the edges or it can come off the wrong way.”. We can assure you that this new take has definitely not come “off the wrong way”. It’s a lovely homage to soul’s golden age and to add edge, the bvs come via Saundra Williams of the Dap-Kings.
The Sextones ‘You’re So Fine’, is out now on all digital platforms. The song will also be released on 45 vinyl on March 10th, via Record Kicks. Pre-orders are now available on Bandcamp and via the Record Kicks site