Véloniños "Véloniños"

(Rue End Records 2016)

Alabamaman

Red Diesel Medicine

Helenstown

Hey Véloniño!

Levengrove Park

Mad Cat Dynamo

Preacherman

Bully For You!

These Quiet Lands

Hillbilly Girl

Not since Cadbury reinstated the Wispa have I been this satiated. I didn't realise how much I missed the velvety tones of Davie Duncan's voice. Since the Shakin' Pyramids headed off in to the land of legendary status with their farewell gift of Celts And Cobras, I thought that was it. We'll never hear from the boys again. But, here they are, well two of em, in a new incarnation with an album that takes up where Celts And Cobras left off. Davie and Ken are back with their new outfit Véloniños with Laurie Cuffe and Shug Jamieson completing the ensemble. I bought their digital download EP a while back and was immediately enamoured with their sound. It was almost like coming home. Fast forward a few months and Véloniños announced their first full length was available for pre-order. Pre-order it I did and have been listening to it almost all the time since its arrival. It's an eclectic mix of up-tempo well produced rockabilly and roots infused sonic delights. But, there are a couple of ballads on here that for me are thee standout tracks. Delivered with a heartfelt sincerity that can sometimes be lost in a studio setting. Véloniños are a class act. The album is written and produced entirely by the band themselves and they've also opted for some atypical sleeve artwork. I love a band that doesn't conform to the usual formulaic rockabilly conventions. The lyrical content in some cases seems to be stories from the their own lives put to song, and done so adroitly. I love a good thought provoking story as much as I love a good song. This is what the boys bring to the table on this album. It's not all serious though. There's plenty of manic rockabilly here too. As I said earlier...it's an eclectic mix. Excellent musicianship and that voice! The album is available directly from the band and a plethora of other outlets in both physical and digital formats....now for the daunting task of adding those links....

The O'Prez

ps....my booklet is better than your booklet.......

Véloniños on Facebook
Véloniños Official
Véloniños Store
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The Lab Ratz "Terror Is Loose!"

(Crazy Love Records 2016)

Sailing Ratz

My Psychobillity

Trop Tard

Uptown Mouse

Revenge

Duct Tape Boogie

Terror Is Loose

Be My Baby Tonight

Channel Real TV

Riding

Where The Demons Go

Fukushima Surf

Wild Cavemen

Another début album has landed at Chez O'Prez causing a domino effect in that my nipples became so erect upon listening to it that they knocked over a line of cynical auld cunts claiming that psychobilly is dead in the water. My arse it is! We're only a few weeks in to 2016 and already the gauntlet has been thrown down by Canada's Lab Ratz. This thing will be a tough act to follow by their psychobilly cohorts. In days of yore when psychobilly was first adopted and adapted by our cousins across the pond it didn't really sound right. With the exception of The Quakes, it all sounded like tough rockabilly as opposed to having that very European twist which to my ears is the essence of psychobilly. After all, though a direct offshoot of rockabilly, it is not rockabilly, so fast rockabilly, psychobilly does not make. It needs that big dollop of European flavouring to make it pleasing to my ears. It needs aggression. It needs a mental rockabilly beat that does not sound like it's from the 1950s. It needs musicians that are beyond expert at their craft and a vocal styling that says "look at me again and I'll fuckin' kill ya". The Lab Ratz check all these boxes and then some. I'd heard of the band before in passing (possibly through my love of the Gutter Demons...Johnny Toxik plays guitar in this band too), but as with the complete and utter overkill of social media, my mental note to check them out kept going out of my head. So I didn't really know what to expect when I got this album. Psychobilly bands are either excellent or shite. There's no in between. The boys are the former. Even after I take me headphones off I can still hear em reverberating through me skull; a bit like after having the head blown off ya at a live show. This is straight-up 100% psychobilly of the highest order. 

The O'Prez

THE LAB RATZ ON FACEBOOK

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The Nevrotix "Paranoid"

(Crazy Love Records 2016)

Mad About You

Hyena Bop

Moon Monster

Mummy Boy

Rampton Rage

Nightmares

Queen Of The Night

Panic Attack

Paranoid

Zapped

Walking Dead

Gothenburg is home to two bands that have the most highly anticipated full length album releases in a long long time. The Test Pilots is one and The Nevrotix is the other. The latter landed on my plush red carpet the other day. An apt carpet and colour as this is indeed an outstanding début release. From the get-go I knew this was going to be something special. It kicks off with the rim of the snare being played which only added to the anticipation of what was to follow. Then there it was; the woody slap bass tone, the minor chord guitar and the vocals minus those much abhorred horror theatrics. The Nevrotix aren't comparable to any other band. Yes they play a classic concoction of psychobilly/neo rockabilly but I can't detect any obvious influences. They do their own thing. Psychobilly seems to go through phases. Sometimes called first, second or third generation psychobilly. Sometimes it's more punk, sometimes metal, sometimes hardcore. Eventually though it all comes full circle and goes back to what it was originally. Rockabilly for the lunatic fringe. Rockabilly with no rule book and played with a big pair of hairy bollocks. This is how The Nevrotix play their brand of psychobilly/neo rockabilly. Original name, original sound, I fuckin' love em. You can get the album directly from The Nevrotix or from Guido over at Crazy Love Records and all the usual mail order aficionados that stock non-shite related releases.

The O'Prez

THE NEVROTIX ON FACEBOOK
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