Wayne Kramer and his proto-punk band the MC5 have returned in a new form to kick out more jams, motherfucker. The group will release their first new music in 50 years and kick off a US tour in May. A teaser for the forthcoming album is below, featuring a bit of a new track, "Heavy Lifting," a collaboration with Brad Books, Tom Morello, Don Was, and Abe Laboriel Jr. From Pitchfork:
The touring lineup of the MC5 is Kramer, Brooks, drummer Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction), bassist Vicki Randle (Mavis Staples), and guitarist Stevie Salas (David Bowie). The album features percussion from original MC5 drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson on two songs. It will be produced by Bob Ezrin, whose production credits include Pink Floyd's The Wall and Lou Reed's Berlin.
"We've just barely survived four catastrophic years of a failed presidency and a devastating pandemic," Kramer said in a statement. "Brad and I started writing new music with the express purpose of pushing back against the cruelty of it all." The album is also set to feature contributions from Kesha, Morello, Alejandro Escovedo, Jill Sobule, and Rise Against's Tim McIlrath.
