The Oakland blues quartet The Loved Ones was making more authentically Chicago-sounding music than almost any actual Windy City band in the mid-'90s. What's equally impressive is how the band’s 1994 sophomore album became a springboard for its members. Following Better Do Right, frontman Bart Davenport became a successful solo artist, while guitarist Xan McCurdy replaced Greg Brown in the band Cake. Bassist Mike Therieau co-founded the San Francisco Americana rock quartet Mover before going solo and then moving to Austin, Texas, to join the similarly twangy band Shurman. Here, the opening song “Wishy Washy Woman” is a snapshot of Oakland blues at its finest. From McCurdy’s richly saturated '60s tones to a hard-grooving rhythm section and Davenport's dynamic singing, these guys could've easily been mistaken for peers of Paul Butterfield, Peter Green, or John Mayall. While the Memphis-flavored “What Is Love” hinted at the soulful pop that Davenport would later pursue, the instrumental track “Xan's Night Out” spotlights a fretboard prowess that McCurdy doesn’t get to explore in Cake.