Listen To This Shit: The Hall Monitors

There’s been a shitstorm of public comment concerning Sasha Frere-Jones’ New Yorker piece about the lack of black influence among the current crop of indie bands. Say what you will about the merits of the article — okay, we’ll say it: far from flawless — but we’d bet you’ll see an overcompensation on the part of bands and blogs to reach past Whitey into darker percussive themes.

I’d like to believe this here rag is blissfully ignorant on the subject of race in music, but we’ve long harbored an intense fascination with our less-pale friends. We publish more posts about funk and soul genres than we do the indie rock bent, and the bands that most strike us in today’s rock scene have firm roots in the blues, deep funk and other African-based beats.

That tenuous set-up leads us to The Hall Monitors, a four-piece rock ‘n soul band based in Washington DC. The co-ed foursome — Sean Crowley on guitar and vocals, Ginger Richards on guitar, and brothers Matt and Mike Sullivan on bass and drums — brings us artfully back to the old school, effortlessly exploring the concept of retro while stamping something new all over it. One listen to the featured track below will conjure up old blues heroes and garage band rockers alike, quite a feat for an unsigned band that’s less than two years old.

The streamable track’s a homemade demo and the recording can be little rough around the edges, but I heard this tune yesterday for the first time and felt immediately compelled to post it for alla’youse. Do yourself a favor and take 160 seconds to check this out. If you like it and you’re in New York, the Hall Monitors are playing Cavestomp at the Warsaw with The Sonics, et al this weekend.

• CLICK HERE TO STREAM THE HALL MONITORS’ “GIRLS”