This Is Our Jam: The Immaculates, “Hey, Joe Kelly”

The Immaculates’ Tumblr describes the band succinctly: “A soul band from New York, N.Y.”, and like that sentence, The Immaculates’ sound is lean, literal, and stripped of everything but the absolute essentials: drums, bass, and vocals. There’s as much Iggy Pop and The Sonics as there is James Brown to front man Jay Heiselman’s smoker’s yowl, and the three members each do their best to embody the epitome of vintage cool, right down to their matching black-and-white suits (the jackets never come off). On “Hey, Joe Kelly,” Heiselman sounds close to tearing his larynx as he wails over Matt Conboy’s wicked funked-up bassline. Perhaps most impressive, though, is Cyrus Lubin’s drumming, whose epic breaks are more technically impressive than they have any need to be. Until recently, The Immaculates’ one-sentence bio was followed by another: “Available for parties.” Hopefully, they still are.