The Smithereens are never shy about showing respect for other rock bands. So it’s no surprise that Late Music, the new semi-solo album by Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken, is shot through with influences of two of his old favorites: the Beach Boys and the Four Freshmen, a close-harmonizing 1950s vocal group.
Diken remains very much a member of the Smithereens, but for Late Music the 52-year-old Wood-Ridge resident partnered with another Jersey guy, Hackensack-based Pete DiBella. The two met in 1976, when DiBella placed an ad in the rock newspaper Aquarian Weekly “to find a singing drummer who was into Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys,” says Diken.
The pair’s early recordings never made it into record stores because of Diken’s commitment to the Smithereens, which formed in 1980. But Diken and DiBella reconnected about fifteen years ago and wrote and recorded several albums’ worth of songs that were just begging for public exposure. “It had to be done! That’s what our producer, Dave Amels, would say as a mantra when we were talking about putting out the record,” Diken says.
The indie Cryptovision label released Late Music, featuring new sessions by Diken and DiBella (recording as Bell Sound), in late September. With two other musicians, Diken and DiBella will play their first show in support of the album on November 18 at the Bowery Electric in Manhattan.
Lining up other dates is not a priority, though. “Smithereens gigs will always take precedence,” says Diken. The beloved Jersey quartet will perform November 21 at the Mayo Center for the Performing Arts in Morristown. The Smithereens’ most recent album, The Smithereens Play Tommy (released in May on E1 Music), is a faithful interpretation of the Who’s classic 1969 album.