Dead - The Soundtrack (featuring Sparky Phillips)

(Crazy Love Records 2014)

Something a bit different this time around. Crazy Love Records have released the soundtrack to Sven Halfar's pulp flick Dead. The music on here is by Nils Kacirek And The Peng Peng Pony. It's best described as a cacophonic and surrealistic Ennio Morricone crossed with Ry Cooder sound throughout with some horns here and there giving off a bit of a Squirrel Nut Zippers kind of vibe. All instrumentals (except the ones I'm getting to in the next paragraph) and the majority of them are quite short. Well, it is a soundtrack album.

BUT...four of the ditties on here feature Demented Are Go's Mark "Sparky" Phillips on vocals. That right there is the selling point of the album for the psychobilly completest brigade. If you liked Sparky's collaboration with The Hillbilly Moon Explosion then you'll love these songs. They're very much of the same ilk but with an even darker feel and also feature some duetting with female vocals (Dorte Benzner). Some of the best material I've heard from our Sparkles to date. Demented Are Go fans should definitely add this to their collection.

The O'Prez

Degenerated "Aargh!"

(Crazy Love Records 2014)

Revenge Of The Hypnotoad

Ship Of Fools

Run Away

Take This Trip

Swamp Thing

Zombified Society

Never Again

Vampire Girl

Rock The Bong

Paranoia

Stompin' Shoes

Go My Way

Illusions

Psychobilly. The multifaceted bastardisation of rockabilly, punk, garage and whatever else you want to throw in to the mix for good measure. Born in the UK but nurtured and kept alive in mainland Europe with Germany being the big breasted lactating mother. So that very same German mother...or indeed Germammy has given birth to triplets in the form of Degenerated. Featuring Max, Sexy and Madman (of Psychobilly Online fame), the trio have released their début album and it's aurally and visually straight from 1984...not the book...the year...and what a fine vintage 1984 was too. I didn't like the album at all when I heard it first, second or even third time. It's like many phalluses (so I've been told) that fall under the "grower not a shower" category. Basically, if you take the four albums from Anagram's old Blood On The Cats series and stick the musical delights within those vinyl platters in to a blender then this album is the tasty result. Psychobilly has moved on and changed a lot over the years which is sometimes a good thing but more often than not the roots of the whole thing get completely lost in an overgrown punk with a double bass weed-filled garden. Degenerated are like a big bottle of weed killer.

The O'Prez

Degenerated on Facebook

BUY THE ALBUM!