The Armed Talk Steely Dan For What’s In My Bag?: “This Album Rules”
Tony Wolski, Randall Lee, and Kenny Szymanski from the Armed are the latest guests on Cali record shop Amoeba Music’s What’s In My Bag? series. The guys’ picks include some favorites from their Detroit hometown (Tovah Olson, Moodymann), a surprising amount of jazz (the Bad Plus, Weather Report, Chet Baker), plus metal (Cradle Of Filth), hardcore (Zulu), prog (Yes), punk (the Nerve Agents), experimental indie rock (Water From Your Eyes), and more. A late-career Trail Of Dead record? Why not.
The segment wraps up with an endorsement of Steely Dan’s Alive In America. “When I was growing up, my dad had a copy of it, and I was immediately drawn to it,” Szymanski says. “I didn’t know who Steely Dan was at the time, but I still have that CD. It’s another thing that I just still have, and I won’t ever get rid of it.” After expressing his admiration for Walter Becker’s “Book Of Liars,” a “super deep cut,” he concludes, “This album rules.”
Watch the full 18-minute segment below.