Kim Salmon And The Surrealists – Ya Gotta Let Me Do My Thing 2xCD

“It was very much a record about the way we put it together. It’s got the feeling of something that was recorded at someone’s house, which is a nice thing to have. It was done very ad hoc, but we didn’t let that stop us from throwing every idea at it that came our way into the equation. Stu was a big part of that – they’re mostly my ideas, but he had the musical ability that allowed him to score parts, with the occasional liberty.” Kim Salmon

Salmon fired Tony Pola from the Surrealists in 1993, replacing him with Greg Bainbridge. Brian Henry Hooper later left as well, after the “Kim Salmon and the Surrealists” album, and was replaced by Stu Thomas in 1995. This new trio put out Ya Gotta Let Me Do My Thing in 1997, touring Australia and Europe once more, and USA for the first time. A horn section was added to the band soon after.

Recorded in Kim’s kitchen for a reputed $60, with the late Jim Dickinson (producer of Big Star, Tav Falco, Alex Chilton and Mudhoney among others) joining Mr Salmon at the controls, Ya Gotta Let Me Do My Thing signaled a change of direction for the Surrealists with brass featuring heavily.