Classic Rock Crate Digger is a column I write for the Rhapsody Blog.

Over the last two weeks the Classic Rock Crate Digger has been obsessing over The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, arguably the apex of the Genesis discography. I’ve always appreciated Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, but it hasn’t been until the last couple years that The Lamb’s sheer brilliance has revealed itself to me. It isn’t just prog; it’s a way-ahead-of-its-time art-pop album every bit as futuristic as David Bowie’s Heroes, Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) and the Walker Brothers’ Nite Flights. We’re talking 100% avant rock, 1970s-style.

But here’s the catch: the Crate Digger, believe it or not, doesn’t know early Genesis nearly well enough to write about them. Oh sure, I know and totally dig the basics, but this is prog we’re talking about. It’s complex and arty and difficult. Any critique worth a damn needs to come from a hardcore fanatic who knows the band’s discography inside and out. Fortunately, I know two fanatics: Bob and Dave Kane. I grew up with the Brothers Kane in a place called Lyncourt, a miniscule speck of barely-middle-class houses and a china factory, rubbing shoulders with the city of Syracuse in central New York. Dave and Bob, a pair of seriously precocious preteens and gifted musicians to boot, were anything but average. When just about every other kid in the ‘hood was lapping up Top 40 fare from Casey Kasem, they were honing their chops and diving mind-first into old-school progressive rock, particularly the mighty Genesis. Hell, they were too busy Selling England by the Pound to even notice Madonna’s skimpy white lace.

Well, then again…

What I dig most about the Brothers Kane — in addition to their sharp wit, that is — are their open minds. Over the course of a single beer, the conversation can jump from early ’70s Genesis to alterna-cool like My Bloody Valentine to the latest Robert Pollard project. Of course, this ability isn’t terribly out of place in post-everything 2010. Nowadays, indie rockers don’t hate progressive rock quite like their punk-rock ancestors (Black Flag excluded, of course). Since the late 1990s a slew of diverse bands, from Radiohead to Don Caballero to Lightning Bolt to Espers, has helped make progressive rock cool outside its traditionally niche market. Plus, there’s no overestimating the influence of the Buffalo ’66 soundtrack, which includes some of director Vincent Gallo’s favorite Yes songs, including the gorgeous “Sweetness.”

But the Kanes’ love predates all these revisionist developments. They are authentically old school, flying that prog flag long before hipsters caught wind. They also make for a great interview. Not only can Bob and Dave pinpoint the exact reasons why Genesis means so much to them, they can explain why an album like The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway has aged so well and why it resonates with the ears of several generations more than 35 years after its release. Good stuff for sure.

First off, let’s give the readers out there in Rhap-land your prog-rock credentials. From what I can recall of our Lyncourt years, you two were into vintage progressive rock when most kids around our age were digging Thriller and Like a Virgin.

Bob: Dave and I were bred on late-’70s soft rock. But we were turned on to some of the huge bands in the early ’80s: The Who, Van Halen and Genesis, of course. We weren’t immune to ’80s pop. We liked Michael Jackson and the hits of the day. But Genesis just seemed to have more substance.

Dave: MTV was new, so most everyone just had cassettes of their favorite songs that they taped off the radio. The older kids were metalheads or stoners. I was a pious altar boy, who beat up boys for kissing girls. I’ve calmed down since then.

So you guys dig both prog and indie rock. Wow. You were ahead of your time! Progressive rock was deemed corny for so long, especially after punk hit, but over the last few years it seems as though more and more indie kids have been exploring the early stuff.

Bob: I really think that early Genesis; King Crimson; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; and a lot of those big prog monsters have had a huge influence on modern music. It’s just that only fellow musicians will admit to digging them. Nine out of 10 fans of bands like Grizzly Bear, the Decemberists, Radiohead and Robert Pollard will laugh if you mention Genesis. But talk to the actual bands, and they more than likely will tell you how much Genesis helped shape their sense of musicianship when growing up: their broad sense of melody, Phil Collins’ amazing feel on the kit, Peter Gabriel’s spacey stage presence and odd lyrics, Tony Banks’ well-written solos.

Dave: Yes. I think Radiohead brought back prog with OK Computer. And before that, the post-rock thing — with bands like Mogwai — were coming up with progressive-influenced ideas. The Flaming Lips are pretty prog. And I love bands like Deerhoof and Dungen. That stuff is way prog. I’m also a huge fan of Smoosh — three sisters, I think the oldest just got her driver’s license. They’re on their third album, and they are all about pop-prog. All of these bands borrow heavily from the sound of Genesis, and I’m sure they know it.

So how did you come to like old-school Genesis? What was it about them in particular that you dug?

Bob: Our older brother Kevin bought me Three Sides Live for Christmas in ’83. I was already hooked on them. Phil was one of the main reasons I started playing drums. I remember talking to my cousin Linda, another Genesis fan, telling her of my new favorite band. She basically said, “Well, you may like Three Sides Live and Abacab, but you won’t like A Trick of the Tail.” But I got into that album and was totally fascinated by it: the production, the playing, the drama of it. I didn’t really listen to lyrics as a kid, mainly the playing and the sounds. I just felt a strong emotional connection to the music.

Dave: Bob really was listening to Three Sides Live all the time. He was nine, by the way. Most of our Genesis albums, including Selling England by the Pound and A Trick of the Tail, were dubbed cassettes — copies of copies of copies of copies. But in those fourth-generation, super-hissy cheap tapes I found something I could relate to. They also opened my mind to many things. I was a super-nerdy 12-year-old still contemplating the priesthood. But I was somehow comforted by these English guys playing weird songs about space invasion and English mobsters. I listened to other prog bands — ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd — but nothing else seemed quite as me.

For any Rhapsody subscribers out there who want to begin exploring Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, what’s the first album you recommend?

Bob: Selling England by the Pound is a good introduction. It’s not too “out there,” and songs like “Firth of Fifth” and “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” are pretty simple compared to some of their other works.

Dave: I definitely agree with Bob. It’s a little more accessible than Foxtrot or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

It seems as if Genesis’ career is commonly split into two eras: the prog years with Peter Gabriel, and the pop years with Phil Collins. However, it isn’t quite that simple, is it? Late-’60s Genesis actually predates progressive rock, while the first few albums with Collins at the helm are very much prog.

Bob: Very true. The first album, From Genesis to Revelation, is very much influenced by the Bee Gees and the Moody Blues. It is a great record, though.

Dave: Probably more so the Bee Gees. But that first album is a prototype for the twee sound of Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura.

Every teenage boy into classic rock plays air guitar, but did you guys ever take it to the next level and dress up like early ’70s Peter Gabriel? Man, he was far-out looking!

Bob: Peter was a freak, especially that reverse Mohawk thing he did. Who has the ‘nads to do that to their head? I remember looking at Genesis Live at The Book Mark over in Shop City [a long-gone Lyncourt landmark for young music nerds like us], and really wondering what the hell Peter had on his head. Seeing pictures of The Slipperman outfit creeped me out, too.

Dave: For Halloween this year I considered dressing up in the Magog outfit, which is the character on the cover of Genesis Live. Peter is wearing what appears to be a red box-kite on his head. I had the sheet and the bag of rocks, too. But I decided to go with Charlie Brown. What is amazing is that for such a visual band, I didn’t see any of their stage props until years later. All I had in the early and mid-’80s were those dubbed cassettes. There was no way to search for videos or pictures of the band. The music all by itself spurred crazy pictures in my head. In fact, after listening to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway hundreds of times, I still had never read the liner notes, explaining the album. I don’t think I read them until I was 20.

How deep into Peter Gabriel’s solo career have you ventured? Does it maintain your interest like his work with Genesis does?

Bob: I have heard most of Peter’s work. He never ceases to amaze me. He has such a soulful voice, such depth to it. But he’s far from perfect, sort of like David Bowie or Billy Corgan. His voice just has so much personality.

Dave: Gabriel has a distinctive, powerful singing style. I usually like more vulnerability, but he somehow does it all. I loved his instrumental input in the band on flute and oboe — and he had his own bass drum. The band had a very unorthodox stage setup, too: the singer next to the drummer in the middle, keyboards on one side facing the band and the bassist and guitarist sitting down on the other side. Also, the combination of Gabriel’s voice and Collins’ is the best match I’ve ever heard. They’re the same instrument, but Collins’ timbre is a little higher.

On the flipside, is there any post-Gabriel Genesis that you dig?

Bob: I am pretty much into everything until Invisible Touch. Duke is a great album. That album is the pinnacle of the Collins era. It has a few elements of the prog days, but also incorporates Phil’s very personal lyrics about his life at the time. “Mama” from the self-titled album in 1983 is probably one of their best songs. It’s powerful, dramatic and downright creepy. It’s almost too dramatic, but one of Phil’s strongest moments, vocally. He kills it on that tune!

Dave: I’m with Bob, but any of the Gabriel era is better.

Phil Collins gets a bad rap as the guy who turned Genesis into a silly pop group, but the guy deserves credit as a badass musician, right? He played on some awesome albums outside Genesis, like Brian Eno’s Another Green World.

Bob: Phil is the single biggest influence on my drumming. He has amazing feel, both in the pop aspect and when it comes to odd time signatures. Outside of Genesis, he’s done a ton of great work. The Brand X records blew me away when I was a kid. I loved his improvisation on that stuff. Another big record for me was Robert Plant’s The Principle of Moments. His playing fits the material so well.

Dave: Phil was a monster in his day. I realize he was using Billy Cobham [of Mahavishnu Orchestra] as a starting point, but he somehow made that work as a necessary voice in a song, kind of how Ringo’s drums are a real, expressive voice in the Beatles. But Phil could play a lot faster.

So let’s close out with the ubiquitous desert-island question. If you had one Genesis album to choose…?

Bob: I am going with The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. It may be the strangest overall, lyrically. They really were in outer space when that was put together. But even with the crazy story, both the songs and performances are just right. Peter has so much soul in his voice. He’s never quite reached that again. That’s their masterpiece.

Dave: This is tough — but Bob’s right. And if for nothing else, it’s because in the midst of the surrealist fantasy the album paints, I find emotions and humanity that are real and move me, like the scariest, most passionate old blues.