The Ditchrunners "Rips Aus Dem Graben"

(Broken Records 2016)

Ditch Stomp

Horseplay

Cannibal Ballad

4 Wheel Drive

Ghost Train

Slashburner

710 vs 420

Whiskey Smoke

Truck Driving Wildman

Musky Jacks

Yankee Yell

Street Ratt

Mongers Song

White Horse

I'd not heard of The Ditchrunners before this sexy little digipak alighted on my plush red carpet during the week. The title suggested it was a German band as did the record label...Broken Neck, a subsidiary of Crazy Love. Alas, I couldn't have got the whole shebang more arseways. Turns out The Ditchrunners are in fact from the US of A, Wisconsin to be precise....Stevens Point to be preciserer!! It also turns out the band have been around for a few years and this particular album since 2013...but this version has more ditties o' delight and that version was called Rips From The Ditch...which is the English translation! They're a four-piece outfit that describe their sound as "Honky Tonkin' Gypsy Gutter Grass" and have a list of contributing members so long that it wouldn't fit on a roll of wallpaper. Anyway, having had no preconceived notions before slipping this in to the CD player, I was immediately kicked in the man-purse by the opening instrumental. A rousing piece of rustic stomp. But, all too often, great players are let down by shite vocalists. Buckshot Bredlau is NO shite vocalist. He's a fucking EXCELLENT vocalist. Gravelly and baritone. I was always drawn to bands who had a more ballsy approach to American roots music. The Skiff Skats in the 80s, The Tokyo Skunx in the 90s. Bands like Custom Made Scare in the Noughties. Bands like the Urban Pioneers now. Then I hear these guys (and girl) and fuck me I love em. Yankee Yell was making me skull vibrate for fuck sake! If you made a list of every form of American roots music ever and swapped out those original watered down (by the powers that be) artists and gave that list to a pack of deranged musicians with a penchant for the maniacal then this would be the resultant album.

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The Gallows "Life Of Sin"

(Crazy Love Records 2016)

The Gallows

Shakin'

Last Night

Cold Dark Night

Life Of Sin

Screamin' Heart

Torture Chamber

House Of The Dead

Underground Destiny

Wreck Of Ol' 97

You're Gonna Get It

Never Be The Same

Originally released in 2005 and 11 years later seeing the light of day again on Crazy Love Records is the now Goddamn Gallows first long player when they were simply known as The Gallows...and had just three members and a more raucous psychobilly sound before they mutated in to their gutterbilly guise of today...and I win the prize for longest opening sentence ever! So in hindsight, this is a stripped back psychobilly version of The Goddamn Gallows but there are hints of the direction the band would take in later years. For the most part though it's very much in-your-face psychobilly of the American variety. US psycho outfits generally seem to veer more towards a rootsy tinged with punk take on psychobilly as opposed to their European cousins. This is very much the case on this album. The album has a "live in the studio" sound to it. It's full of punk attitude with the bollocks of a psychobilly beat. It's a rare beast of an album. You think you know what you're getting but then the boys throw you a curve ball and you're gone in to a different genre altogether. There's a lot going on here, especially when you take in to account it's only three guys! You could say it's the perfect introduction to the genre-bending band they were to become. The album is available on both vinyl and CD....links to buy below.

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The Spastiks "Sewer Surfing"

(Crazy Love Records 2016)

Sewer Surfin'

My Baby Was Abducted By Aliens

Radiation Baby

Retard

Wolfman Crawl

Hatchet

Mickey Mouse

Dynamite

Another Dead Hooker

Brown Eye Girl

Well they finally did it. They've reached their ultimate goal. They've climbed to the highest rung of the ladder in the tights of psychobilly. That's right readers....grab those horns and sound the fanfare! The Spastiks are, at last, getting a full album review by me! .............Hello? Is this thing on? Tough crowd. Well feck off then.
FINE! They've finally released their début platter (which, incidentally comes on black AND limited edition yellow vinyl...110 pieces...hand numbered...AND CD!) on everyone's favourite label, Crazy Love Records, owned by everyone's favourite German, Gorgeous Guido Neumann. Look at him there girls, isn't he only gorgeous? So, 10 ditties of reverb drenched psychobilly with oodles of twang and lyrics that the boys over at Troma Entertainment would be proud/jealous of. The shlockabilly lyrics are made more threatening by the minacious rhythms of the guitar and ballsy bass slapping. You can hear quite clearly that the boys are very much influenced by the first wave of psychobilly. It's pure...oh, I better not say that....it's authentic psychobilly! The boys have been arsing about in loads of bands over the years but they all seemed to just fizzle out. Not so this time around. The Spastiks continue to go from strength to strength and are gaining a worldwide audience. European as well as their native US festival promoters have began to sit up and take notice of this trio. This fine release should see them gain even more well deserved acclaim. Sexily packaged too I might add with some fine artwork by the legendary Oscar Hertin (not quite as legendary as me mind). If straight-up no frills psychobilly with lashings of rockabilly rhythm is your bag (it's mine) then make that purchase! Upon arrival of your purchase, gently tease your finger in to the hole (if CD) or carefully hold the rim (if LP) and place your purchase on the relevant aural pleasure device....and don't forget that kitchen roll lads (I recommend Plenty) as you'll get so excited that pant-splash may occur.

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No...I want the Black Vinyl
No wait....the CD...I want the CD
(you can of course buy all 3)
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Eddy Blake "The Wooden Whale"

(Eddy Blake 2016)

The Titan

Low Down To The Ground

All I Can Do Is Cry

As Tears Go By

Love Float Away

Leviathan

Dream Of A Miner's Daughter

Drink Up And Go Home

I Love Everyone

I'd heard a song called Walk My Walk a long time ago somewhere on the net and made a mental note to research the band in question....Canada's Cockroaches. But of course I forgot until they popped up again on one of the Modern Syndrome Neo Rockabilly Nation compilations last year. So this time around I was adamant to find out more. After much Googling I discovered the names of the band members and then it was on to Facebook to see if any of them had a profile on there. Lo and behold who should I discover only slap bass and vox frontman Eddy Blake. I sent him a message asking if The Cockroaches self titled 2007 CD was still available! It was, a purchase ensued, an autograph was signed, and the CD was mine! I was delighted with meself! Anyway, as it turned out, Eddy was still very active musically what his Eddy Blake And The Honky Tonk Heartbreakers rootsy garage-a-billy ensemble and now this, his brand new solo album "The Wooden Whale". Eddy says it's a concept album. The concept being the only instrument used is the double bass. I was sold on that idea before even listening to the album. "The album is a bass trip for me. I've been playing upright bass about 20 years now, in all sorts of rockabilly, r n' b and bluegrass bands and I've also played classical music. So the main thing from a musical perspective was to make a record with just the bass, to see where I could go with that" said the ultra-talented Mr Blake when I quizzed him further. Well, he went beyond anything I expected! The bass is slapped, plucked and bowed. It's a rootsy rockabilly symphonic masterpiece. And I don't use the term masterpiece lightly. Mostly self penned songs and instrumentals with a few choice covers make each song flow perfectly from one to the other. Anything with "billy" attached to the end of it has been done to death and it's not easy to take that, or any musical genre that's been around for years in a new direction. Our Eddy has done just that with stellar results. I like to keep my music collection categorised but this in a category all by itself. It's a moody, dark, double bass carousel of delights.

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King Moroi "Let Me Out!!"

(Bellfire Records 2016)

Let Me Out

Dr. Cogan

Well, what have we here then? Only 7 inches of red vinyl sexiness from King Moroi, that's what! The A side is instantly memorable and stylistically reminds me somewhat of Asmodeus. It's a ballsy in-your-face ditty with a battle-cry chorus that begs to played on repeat. The lyrics are included on the sleeve which I always love to see. Kitty In A Casket appear briefly too for added sex appeal. It's a mid-tempo psychobilly stomper that will have us all pulling evil grimaces for just over 3 minutes. Well, I noticed my facial expression change whilst being transformed by the song anyway. Flip it over and we have an instrumental that's in stark contrast to the "fuck you!" stylings of the A side. Another mid-paced ditty but this time around it's a very clean sounding neo rockabilly 2 minutes of pleasure. That's twice as long as my usual pleasure-time lasts! It's no mean feat to release something so eclectic seeing as there are only 2 songs! Horror Rudey has been drafted in on artwork duties once more. I like when bands use the same artist for their releases as it lends them a kind of instantly recognisable trademark; a bit like Geo Parkin with the Texans and Pieter M. Dorrenboom with Batmobile. King Moroi are one of the hardest working bands on the scene and are adamant that their efforts will see them rise within the ranks of psychobilly. The talent is there in spades so I can see that work ethic paying off. To grab hold of this platter you'll need to contact the band directly or pick it up at one of their shows. It's available in black as well as the aforementioned red vinyl and as a digital download for all you psychobillies from the future! No CD version will be forthcoming though.

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The Retarded Rats "Screams From The 10th Planet"

(Killjoy Records 2016)

The Engine Starts
No Time To Die
Neo-Psychobilly
You Lost My Brain
Headshot
Searching
Fingertip In The Sky
Inquisition
The Key
Coulrophobia
Nananananananananananana
Screams From The 10th Planet

From the jangly euphony that opens this album you just know you're in for some excellent underground psychobilly with lashings of garage and surf reverb. It's lo-fi without suffering from piss-poor production. The stuff on here would be right at home on 1984's Rockabilly Psychosis And The Garage Disease album. It sounds like the Rats have been influenced by just about every act on that classic compilation and then some. Now I fuckin' love slap bass...who doesn't? It sounds great on here with Anna thumping the absolute shite out of it. It's nicely accentuated by some cracking heal-palmed guitar work in places and drums that have that nice snappy snare sound. It's the kind of sound that lots of psychobilly bands strive to create on their recorded work but fail to do so. Psychobilly for all intents and purposes is an underground sound and The Retarded Rats are thee sound of the underground. All the songs on here bar 3 were recorded live on 8-track wheel to wheel. It's available on limited edition (500 copies) clear red vinyl with extra thick sleeve and poster inlay and wait for it....on cassette too! There are only 100 cassettes available. Let's hope there are 100 cassette players left in the world!! Right, I'm off to listen to Nananananananananananana again...and you can too via the gift of my YouTube uploading skills.

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Klingonz "Klownz 'Я' Us"

(Drunkabilly Records 2016)

Klownz 'Я' Us

Alcoholic Klown

Gynacamastia

Bitch

Lepreporn

Fellatio Academy

Honk Time Boogie

A.K.A.B.

Where's Captain Kirk

Your Mother Is A Whore

 Yup ya bai ya! The Klingonz are back with a new platter courtesy of the purveyors of bad taste over at Drunkabilly Records. It's out on CD and a limited edition orange vinyl pressing (which includes the CD), only 500 of these though mind, so hurry the fuck up. Now then, I first saw the Klingz back in 1988 or 89 at the Santa Pod psychobilly weekender. That is, I saw them acting the bollix in the back of a van. I can't remember if they actually played or not. The whole thing is a blur. But, I did purchase their Psycho's From Beyond album from the record stall and when I got home and played it I didn't know what to make of em. Back then I liked fanny loads of rockabilly in me psychobilly and well, the Klingz weren't exactly in that niche. The more I played it though, the more I liked it. They were an acquired taste. Anyway, I've bought every album they've released since then and each one is, like me (as my ex-girlfriends will attest to), a grower, not a shower. This new one is a real mixed-bag of psychobilly, punkabilly, punk'n'roll and a bit of good auld céilíbilly flung in too for the craic. The punk'n'roll stuff I can take or leave but the psychobilly stuff is pure klingabilly klass! There's a circus vibe running throughout the album too which is no surprise given the whole clown thing the lads have going on. Psychobilly nerdists will have perky nipples when they hear some fine fiddling by one Mr. Simon Cohen on the album. Fuck me, there's even some piano and saxophone on here too which isn't usually listed on your Kling nutritional information leaflet. In all, the album has a more punk-infused sound than previous Klingonz output (maybe influenced by the departure of Doyley and Strangy) but with that said, it's undeniably that Klingonz sound we're all familiar with. I took a punt on it out of me hard earned dole money and I'm glad I did.

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