Music: The Double Aughts

THE DOUBLE AUGHTS

Vincennes-Evansville duo resurrects uniquely blues-based material for upcoming EP

outfit that made room for a bass player, the Paper Sweaters made a handful of appearances at local venues like PG Café and Wired before Nelson and Sobhani's employment situations made it difficult to continue; they pulled the plug in 2018.

One day back in 2013, Rama Sobhani was going about his normal work day at the state park up in Vincennes when a fellow employee began proudly discussing her son's musical abilities. A musician himself - a kickass drummer, in fact - he inquired about a possible introduction and in short order, Sobhani came face-to-face with his future collaborator, ace guitarist Joshua Nelson. The two became fast friends and found common ground artistically thanks to a mutual interest in the 2000-era garage rock band The Hives, both taken by the Swedish quintet's stripped down approach. But despite the shared influence, Sobhani and Nelson's playing styles differed dramatically. The former was entrenched in the sound of the Delta while the latter mostly focused on the punk side of things. But that just made their proposed musical alliance all the more intriguing - especially when Sobhani's vision of a raw, blues-based project began to take shape.

"When we started writing these songs, Joshua was coming at it with a blank slate of experience with anything blues-based," Sobhani explains. "It was really interesting to hear someone who had never played the blues start writing the blues." He was particularly impressed when Nelson dug even deeper into the old stuff like Blind Willy McTell and Blind Lemon Jefferson, with the swampy feel of those legendary early recordings slowly seeping into the mix. And yet, despite the promising nature of singular tracks like "Anyone's Doll" and "Laudanum Jar" - featuring thrillingly unorthodox guitar work by Nelson and Sobhani's intricate, pounding drums - the project stalled. Or more accurately, was shelved, as Nelson accepted a job in Evansville in 2016 and the pair began anew under a different name while residing in separate cities. A more punk-inspired

But just a year later, there was talk of resurrecting the 2013 material; the abandoned project even had a name: The Double Aughts. Eager to move forward, Nelson and Sobhani contacted local producer Steve Tyner at Black Cat Recording to document the blues-based 5-song collection, but due to the pandemic it would take nearly two years to complete the EP with final mixes recently approved. Aforementioned tracks "Anyone's Doll" and "Laudanum Jar" are complemented by "In Drag," "Summer Thing" and "The Girl Who Cries" - each featuring lyrics and vocal melodies by Sobhani that are interpreted and sung by Nelson. Truly, this is one of the most compelling original releases of late taking into account its merging of blues, metal, punk and 90s rock. It's just a shame that it took eight years to see the light of day. Nelson concurs: "It's been a long journey to get here, to record the music at a price that we could afford. There's no one in Vincennes that we could

go to for a finished product like this."

Keep an eye out for the Double Aughts EP - coming soon with artwork by Stephen Horning (who also plays bass on the recording).

For more info, follow The Double Aughts on Facebook.