***A Little More Time, Reigning Sound’s seventh proper full-length, is the original lineup’s first in-studio collaboration since 2005’s Home for Orphans LP, which Merge reissued last year. Ultimately, that 2020 reissue laid the groundwork for the outfit’s reunification. Greg Cartwright explains, “When Merge reissued Home for Orphans, we booked a little string of shows with the original lineup. We still love to get together and play every couple years.” The short reunion tour wrapped just as pandemic hit the United States. Soon after, Cartwright found himself with a batch of new songs. With Reigning Sound’s current lineup based in New York City, then a COVID-19 hotspot, Cartwright made the decision to produce the new record back in Memphis—though he did regret not being able to work with the players behind 2014’s Daptone-recorded Shattered. “It was not something I anticipated, making a record with the original lineup again,” Cartwright says. “Mainly, because I had guys I was playing with, and we had an established dynamic that was working. In addition to working with old bandmates, Cartwright enlisted acclaimed producer Scott Bomar (Al Green, William Bell) at Electraphonic Recording, to produce in downtown Memphis. For the new LP, Cartwright employed a string section, an additional percussionist, and a pedal steel player on some of the tracks. Beyond that, Coco Hames (The Ettes, Parting Gifts) sings co-lead vocals on “Just Say When."
LP $18.95
05/21/2021
CD $12.75
05/21/2021
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Reigning Sound’s single “A Little More Time” b/w “Lonely Ghost” marks the first new music from the group in nearly seven years! The A-side is another welcome pint of garage rock and Memphis soul from Reigning Sound chief brewmaster Greg Cartwright, and it serves double duty as the leadsingle from the band’s forthcoming full-length A Little More Time with Reigning Sound, due May 21 worldwide. While the sprightly and rollicking B-side “Lonely Ghost” was recorded during the album sessions in Memphis, Cartwright and co. felt the track was best heard at 45 RPM.
7" $7.00
03/05/2021
***When REIGNING SOUND's GREG CARTWRIGHT assembled the tracklist for 2005’s Home for Orphans compilation LP, he was mining from a moody pool of outtakes and rarities cut at various locations across his hometown of Memphis. The year prior, his band unveiled its manically raucous Too Much Guitar! LP, but left behind on the cutting-room floor were slow and sullen alternate takes of “Funny Thing” and “If You Can’t Give Me Everything.” Along with those Cartwright originals, Home for Orphans also contains two tracks from Reigning Sound’s 2001 debut, the hard-to-find “Two Sides to Every Man” 7-inch: “Pretty Girl” and “Without You” (a Gene Clark cover). One other cover tune also appears, a fuzzy live take of The Breakers’ “Don’t Send Me No Flowers, I Ain’t Dead Yet,” an angsty 1965 Memphis garage classic. Opening the aptly titled Home for Orphans is “Find Me Now,” a lonelyhearted gem that was omitted from the original Too Much Guitar! roster. Another similar “orphan” included here is “What Could I Do?,” a shining example of Cartwright’s ability to tastefully and poetically lay down heartbreaking ballads. It’s varied but cohesive, a song-crafting skill Cartwright perfected back in his early days with THE COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS and THE OBLIVIANS. In hindsight, this was perhaps a stopgap, transitional record. It was issued during Cartwright’s big move from Memphis to his current residence in Asheville, and it plays like a beautiful farewell to the city that so heavily inspired him.
LP $21.50
07/24/2020
***BACK IN STOCK!!! When he was approached by Scion in 2011 to make an album for the music promotion arm of the car company, REIGNING SOUND frontman GREG CARTWRIGHT found himself unable to refuse—despite his band’s tenuous existence at the time. “Several line-up changes had ensued after the original Memphis quartet disbanded, and I found myself considering the possibility of shedding the Reigning Sound moniker,” muses Cartwright. “I had decided to take a break to work on production for other people and write songs for THE PARTING GIFTS, my upcoming collaboration with Coco Hames.” But now, Reigning Sound had an offer on the table, and there was no band. Besides Cartwright, the one constant of Reigning Sound’s previous three years was keyboardist DAVE AMELS, who was moonlighting in THE JAY VONS, the Brooklyn soul combo formed by Long Island natives MICHAEL CATANESE, BENNY TROKAN and MIKEY POST. Sometimes Amels would even pull double duty at gigs where Reigning Sound and The Jay Vons shared a bill. When The Parting Gifts released their outstanding album Strychnine Dandelion in 2010, The Jay Vons opened shows for them on a brief tour. A few months later, Scion came knocking. Around the same time, DAN AUERBACH of the BLACK KEYS, who provided guitar for the Parting Gifts record, had just moved to Nashville and was busy putting the final touches on a private studio. “Dan was eager to do some work in the new studio in preparation for an upcoming session...
LP $18.85
04/26/2019
CD $13.75
04/26/2019
***BACK IN PRINT!!! A reissue of this 7-inch from Memphis’ incomparable REIGNING SOUND. Originally released in 2005, you get soulful, alternate versions of the favorites “I’ll Cry” and “Your Love,” complete with added organ.
7" $8.50
01/08/2016
BACK IN PRINT!!! Shattered is REIGNING SOUND’s first album for Merge and the first full LP by the group since 2009’s Love and Curses. The band’s principal songwriter/member is GREG CARTWRIGHT, who’s been leading the shifting cast of characters since 2001. You may be familiar with some of the band’s work, as this album is preceded by five studio efforts as well as numerous EPs and live records. Or perhaps some of Greg’s other projects have been on your musical radar: THE OBLIVIANS, PARTING GIFTS, COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS, ‘68 COMEBACK, DEADLY SNAKES, DETROIT COBRAS. Regardless, as far as Reigning Sound is concerned, this is as good a place to start as any because through many line-up changes and mood swings, the central, constant feature is the way Greg writes songs. This particular embodiment of the band includes longtime keyboardist DAVE AMELS, who joined the band seven years ago when Reigning Sound recorded an album, consisting mostly of Cartwright’s songs, with former Shangri-Las lead singer Mary Weiss. Dave proved to be key in putting together the current line-up as well. About three years ago, Greg was asked to make a promotional EP for Scion. Recordings were set to take place in Nashville where he had lined up two local friends to round out the band, but as fate would have it, both had to bow out at the last minute. Luckily, MIKE CATANESE, BENNY TROKAN and MIKEY POSTt—Dave Amels’ bandmates in Brooklyn soul group THE JAY VONS—were up for the task. The...
LP $17.50
07/15/2014
CD $13.50
07/15/2014
It's been five years since Greg Cartwright's Reigning Sound dropped their last full-length studio album, Too Much Guitar. Not that Cartwright has been resting on his laurels. The Reigning Sound backed Shangri-La Mary Weiss on her critically acclaimed comeback album, Dangerous Game, which was produced and largely written by Cartwright. The band performed with Weiss on tour, including an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Cartwright also produced, penned songs for, and played in The Detroit Cobras for a spell. All the while, the Reigning Sound toured the US on and off and released a couple of live albums, yet never managed to get into the studio to record. All the while, Cartwright stockpiled loads of new tunes. Finally, late last year, the band entered Ardent Studios in Memphis and laid down a bunch of songs. Some months later, they went into Echo Mountain Studios in North Carolina and recorded a bunch more. In the end, the band had more than enough for two albums, and carefully whittled it down to the cream of the musical crop. Love and Curses (title comes from Memphis TV horror host Sivad) is a return to the sound and style of the Reigning Sound's incredible Time Bomb High School. The band once again features a full-time keyboardist, Dave Amels, and has jettisoned the lo-fi approach used on Too Much Guitar in favor of a bigger, warmer studio sound. As with Time Bomb High School, Love and Curses strikes a balance between soulful rockers...
LP $12.00
08/25/2009
CD $12.00
08/11/2009
It all happened on a rainy afternoon in June, 2005, at the Goner Shop. Following a sweaty Saturday night gig at Memphis’ favorite dive bar, The Buccaneer, Reigning Sound sets up in front of a roomful of hungover heathens and blazes through fifteen-and-a-half pounders, including covers of The Sham’s “Black Sheep,” The Swingin’ Yo-Yo’s’ “Do Something,” and of course, Carl Perkins’ “Tennessee.” Scream with shock and delight as Greg Cartwright gets electrocuted during a Compulsive Gamblers song! Originally released as a limited-edition CDR to raise funds for Katrina victims in late ’05, and nationally on vinyl the next year, the LP has been out of print for over half a decade. This new pressing includes a complimentary digital download. It’s a document of an amazing band and an amazing show, in glorious full fidelity. It’s Reigning Sound: Live at Goner Records!
LP $16.00
03/25/2014
CD $12.00
04/13/2009
MP3 $9.90
04/13/2009
***The latest in Memphis-bred scorch-and-soul heartbreak from this fiery-fine combo led by GREG CARTWRIGHT of the OBLIVIANS. A powerful blend of soulful ballads, countrified dirges, and somber song-tales of despair an unrequitted love, along with a few butt-shaking rockers, and absolutely stomping versions of The Counts' "Stormy Weather," the Guilloteens' "I Don't Believe," and the Gentry's "Brown Paper Sack." Recent live dates with The Hives destroyed thousands.
LP $12.00
08/20/2004
CD $12.00
08/20/2004
***Few familiar modern garage rock’n’roll would find fault with the view that Greg Cartwright is one of the today’s brightest talents. His singing and songwriting are second to none, as demonstrated in his previous bands The Oblivians and The Compulsive Gamblers. The Reigning Sound, his current vehicle, was born in Memphis, Tennessee, sired by a Flash & The Memphis Casuals 45 and nursed by a Barbara Pittman single. Childhood was not easy for this musical what-not. Kids shunned it for its rock’n’roll sensibility and obvious lack of polished shtick. In true stepchild fashion, though, the band continued to develop a unique sound all its own that didn’t really focus on preconceived genres. Rock’n’roll, R&B, gospel, pop and soul all melt into their The Reigning Sound’s distinctive Memphis sound. Their debut album on Sympathy For The Record Industry demonstrated their talents for crafting great, moody soundscapes. Their second album, Timebomb High School on In The Red, captures their full spectrum, from rockers to ballads. On Too Much Guitar, Cartwright goes for the throat with their hardest edged, toughest recording to date. Half recorded at Memphis’s famed Easley Studios and half recorded by Jay and Alicja of the Lost Sounds inside Cartwright’s own Legba record store, the album is a powerhouse that at times recalls the garage punk energy of The Oblivians — no doubt what a lot of his fans have been waiting for.
LP $16.00
05/04/2004
CD $12.00
05/04/2004