Street Sweepers Surprise NYC

l_b399acc898e5463f909a36e101c4e518Tom Morello (pictured) and his new band, Street Sweeper Social Club, which he founded with Boots Riley (also pictured) of the Coup, played a surprise show at the Highline Ballroom opening for The Roots. The crowd, anticipating a dance heavy evening, was greeted with the hard rap-rocking of Street Sweeper, whose sound harkens to a rougher and more edgy Rage Against the Machine with a softer voice and without the guitar effects that have become Morello’s signature. Nevertheless, the band rocked hard and Morello pulled a number of soloing tricks out of his baseball cap, including some toggle-switch action, and a peculiar trick where he picked the guitar’s G-string as hard as he could while tuning and detuning it. Suspicions have been raised as to whether Street Sweeper is playing the songs that would have been on RATM’s reunion album, but the band definitely has a sound all their own.

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