Gregg Foreman, who looked and sounded every inch the rock star, was the founder of The Delta 72 and musical director for Cat Power.

I’ve always been more of a fan of bands that make a noisy racket than ones who make pretty pop music. The Delta ’72, whose leader Gregg Foreman has died at the age of just 53, were certainly the former.

Formed in mid-Nineties Washington D.C., they belong in a similar category to bands like The Stooges, The Gun Club and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, making a visceral noise that channels Sixties R&B through garage rock (especially those Farfisa organ breakdowns), punk and noise.

They never became rock stars – ironically, their 1995 debut single On The Rocks was released on a label called Dead Rock Stars – but they didn’t need to because to themselves and their audience they already were.

It helped that they looked the part; especially Foreman, with his Johnny Thunders hair and aggressive guitar playing, alongside bassist/vocalist Kim Thompson, organist Sarah Stolfa and drummer Ben Azzara.

But there was more to Foreman than The Delta 72: after they broke up in 2001 he played with Lucinda Williams and became Cat Power’s musical director. His other musical activities give an idea of his influences.

He worked on a project called Re-Licked that was the brainchild of James Williamson of The Stooges and included fellow travellers Mark Lanegan, Bobby Gillespie, Jello Biafra and Alison Mosshart.

Foreman also hosted his own radio show focusing on the architects of underground music, interviewing artists like Lydia Lunch, Genesis P-Orridge, Alan Vega of Suicide and Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Put those names together and you get an idea of where The Delta 72 stand in the pantheon of alternative rock music. As you will when you listen to this tune from their final album: Are You Ready?