Hellstompers "Fire Walk With Me"

(Crazy Love Records 2013)

Diabolical Weapon

Crazy Train

True Rebel

Mavericks

Rolling Thunder

You Really Know What You Need

Overdrive

Black Hole

Alco Trip

Somebody Like Us

Virus

B-Movie

Fire Walk With Me

Let me preface this by saying that having your debut album released on Germany's Crazy Love Records is in itself an accolade as the company's name is synonymous with quality. So on to the all-important sounds within. The output from Russian bands in recent years has become tantamount to a psychobilly sound that is beating all competitors firmly across the buttocks with a pool ball in a sock. Psychobilly has remained successful in its own right now for close to 4 decades with NO input from the mass media which in my book is a positive because if those cunts got their hands on it it would turn into something akin to alcohol-free vodka and who the fuck would want that? Anyway, with success comes imitation and something successful gets imitated until it fails. Yes I'm once again speaking of the hordes of bands that refuse to sing in their natural voices and instead opt for bad Sparky impersonations. I've said it before and I'll fuckin' well say it again. I hate that. There's only one Demented Are Go and they're great. So bands DO YOUR OWN FUCKING THING...*gets a grip of emotions and....* well I can breathe a sigh of relief now because The Hellstompers do just that....their own thing! The sound is clean, it is what it says on the tin...psychobilly (leaning towards the first wave sound but not necessarily old school). I would have preferred a better bass sound but it is there to the fore nonetheless so don't let my bass sound nitpicking put you off...I just prefer a more woody sound and less boom and treble. Maybe it's my graphic equaliser settings. What sets psychobilly apart from its rockabilly cousin is that with the latter you know exactly what melodic direction a song is going to take from the opening chord or drum beat. The same I suppose can be said for some psycho songs but not so with the ditties The Hellstompers have crafted here. Yes they have an immediately recognisable psychobilly beat but there's twists and turns aplenty to keep you listening with bated ears. A fine inaugural release from a band I'll be keeping my eye on.

The O'Prez 2014

The Hellstompers on Facebook

Evil Devil "Bad Tales"

 

(Crazy Love Records 2013)

Property Of The Devil

Psycho Academy

The Beast Of Bodmin

Cursed By A Cornish Vicar

Sludge

Casillero Del Diablo

Revolver

5.9 MMS

Evil Ballad

Banned

Three Steps

In My Brain (Under My Nails)

The Walking Dead

 

People often comment on my musical tastes as being somewhat narrow minded. Well the people in question have obviously never heard psychobilly. It is at its essence a multifaceted genre - a genre made up of a multitude of separate genres with no rule book. Well, maybe the inclusion of a double bass is a rule but one that's not always strictly adhered to. Anyway, before I go off on another tangent, this, the latest release from Italy's Evil Devil is equal parts rockabilly twang, punk, metal and a twist of ska. It's a melting pot of varying musical influences but with psychobilly at its core. A lot of bands have obvious talent but the overall production on their studio albums can sometimes let them down. This can either be the fault of the studio guys not knowing how to bring out the sound of the slap bass or anything else for that matter or indeed the band issuing self-produced material. This is not the case here. The boys sound like a well-oiled machine. The music has the potential to appeal to a wider audience other than that of just the psychobilly underground. Luckily though the lyrics are included in the booklet or it would be anyone's guess as to what lead vox-man Angel was singing about. With that said though, his English is a lot better than my (non-existent) Italian. This album should definitely appeal to the fans of the harder side of psychobilly or anyone that likes a good aural rogering.

The O'Prez 2014

Evil Devil on Facebook 

Stressor "No More Panic"

(Crazy Love Records 2014)

Hit The Pig
No More Panic
Magician
Bye Bye, Love
200 Bones
Bang
November Song
Beautiful Bird
Woodpecker Rock
Evil Dark Road
Fool Fool Fool
Dance Like A Monkey
Earthquake Coming

 

I got in to psychobilly via the rockabilly route like many of the first (and perhaps second) generation psychobilly brigade did. Rockabilly had become watered down for mass consumption and there was nothing new or exciting about it. Then along comes its mental first cousin psychobilly giving the whole thing a well deserved kick in the scrotum. Now we fast forward to the present. Psychobilly is still going strong but like its Peter Perfect rockabilly cousin, a high percentage of it is just the same tired old formulaic growling with a repetitive click. Enter Stressor. Yes the classic psychobilly formula is there but it’s what they do with those ingredients that sets them apart. The vocals are not done with scare tactics, the guitar is clean, the drums punchy and the all important double bass has a woody resonance with audible notes. No mean feat considering the speed it’s being slapped at. No More Panic is the best album from Russia’s Stressor to date. The songs are well crafted and melodic. Upon hearing the song 200 Bones (and prior to reading the liner notes) I thought it was a cover of some catchy pop song that they stuck their psycho seal on but Google came back with nothing. This small fact is in itself testament to their song writing and arrangement skills. The production and mastering on the album is perfect for bringing out that “side of leg slapping” (the quiffed up version of long-haired aficionados air guitar) psychobilly beat. I absolutely love this album and it has immediately rose to the ranks of my go-to album for the aural pleasure of people wanting to know what this genre sounds like. It’s an oasis in a desert of psychobilly mediocrity.

The O’Prez 2014

 

Stressor Official 

Shark Bait "One More Bite...The Album They Never Made"

(Self released 2012)

Cemetery Gates
Tilt
Metropolis
Vampire Of My Love
Shark Bait
Night Time People
The Boogie Bin
Problem Child
She's My Girl
Necrophiliac Blues
One More Bite

 

Dublin's Shark Bait must deserve an entry in The Guinness Book Of Records for most time between inception and releasing a debut album. I first saw Shark Bait busking on Dublin's Liffey Street in 1988. It was a different time and a different atmosphere compared to the Dublin of today and its street culture...or lack there of. I was a nubile 18 and took great pride in walking down the street with them and their little horde of psychobilly ne'er do wells as we were led by a be-quiffed Simon Farrell with his double bass over his shoulder. A Kodak moment if ever there was one. This release captures that whole era perfectly. It has a real underground vibe. The only way you can tell this wasn't recorded in the 80s is that Finnegan's voice is deeper and more gravely than it was back then. This is straight ahead proper psychobilly with no frills. Unlike the majority of today's scene bands this is pure first wave material from a time where psychobillies were ex-rockabillies looking for something wilder and more dangerous. There's loads of rockabilly in it but played maniacally with seven shades of shit being beaten out of the slap bass and drums. The lads may have all grown up and in some cases relocated from their homeland since these songs were first written but this has that Dublin psychobilly sound of a bygone era stamped all over it.

The O'Prez 2012

 

Shark Bait on Facebook 

Mad Dog Cole "Son Of Satan"

(Crazy Love Records 2012)

Waster
The Darkness
Road To Carpathia
Son Of Satan
Better Off Dead
High Heels
Too Much
Whirlwind
Bad Things
Did I Make You Scared?
It's My Face She Sees
Captain Black

The much anticipated sophomore album by ex-Krewmen warbler Mad Dog Cole is almost upon us. It will be out on Crazy Love Records in late October/early November of this year. A bit of a controversial release this one as our MDC seems a bit partial to a bit of controversy. So what can you expect? Well, Guido over at Crazy Love was kind enough to send me a pre-release review copy because, well, as you all know by now…I’m great. Thus, here are my first impressions of Mad Dog Cole’s Son Of Satan album.

It must be hard for lead singers to try and shake the shackles of a band that brought them to prominence and go it alone. After all, it is the voice that is synonymous with a band’s sound. With that said though, given The Krewmen’s somewhat legendary status within certain facets of the psychobilly scene I’m not sure MDC would want those shackles shaken. Whether he does or not makes no difference because this album has that Krewmen sound stamped all over it. It’s 99% up-tempo straight forward psychobilly but with enough changes in gear (and just in the nick of time in parts) to stop it getting too samey. Instrumentally it’s more like McMillan-era Krewmen but melodically and obviously vocally there’s no denying that Cole cut his teeth on the first three Krewmen albums as this sounds very similar. The big difference though between those early Krewmen albums and this, MDC’s second solo outing, is the crystal clear production. Knob-twiddler extraordinaire Alan Wilson can twiddle my knob any time. By virtue of the fact that Mr. Wilson was overseeing the production there’s also a hint of that Sharks Recreational Killer-era sound creeping in in places. There’s perhaps a twist of Nekromantix inspired guitar work on one or two songs also. Personally I prefer the mid-paced songs as they give MDC more chance to exercise his vocal range.

Some people were a bit iffy about this release and what its aural contents would include. Somewhere along the line I think an inner-fear began to grow amongst the psychobilly brigade that MDC had crossed over to the other side; the other side being Goth in this case. Perhaps this was partly due to the fact that the first draft of the artwork for this album (done by me…and much better than the art used instead of it…there! I’ve said it!) depicted MDC and his brethren in questionable attire. But fear not, there’ll be none of that Goth debauchery here. Fans of that classic Krewmen/Mad Dog Cole sound will love it.

The O’Prez 2012

 

Mad Dog Cole on Facebook 

 

 

The KDV Deviators "...Lost Contact!"

(Drunkabilly Records 2012)

Escape From Planet X
Rampage Rock
Deviator Zone 86
Behind The Glass
One Foot In The Grave
Screams Of The Insane
Diary Of A Dead Labrat
The Lonely One
Dogbite
Out Of Orbit
Gravity Override
Buried Alive
Under Attack
Psyclops Man
Soylent Green

I could sum this album up in one phrase: "An embarrassment of riches." However that idiom alone wouldn't do it justice but when you hear it you'll know what I mean. Koefte and Co. have produced something very special here. Imagine if you will that Mad Sin, Torment and Batmobile had a seedy threesome backstage at the Klub Foot in the 1980s, then the resulting spawn would be this platter. It's a big blast of A-List 80s psychobilly with 21st century production values. However, unlike a lot of albums from that classic era there is nothing mercurial about this release. Everything from the production, the song writing, the musicianship, the vocals, even the packaging make it an A-Grade release. KDV's Deviators wear their influences on their sleeves (made all the more obvious by their tribute song in memory of Simon Brand) and they've taken those influences and made an album that screams old school psychobilly while at the same time giving the purists the two-finger salute.

The O'Prez2012

 

The KDV Deviators on Facebook 

 

 

Blue Rockin' "Deep From The Heart"

(Crazy Love Records 2012)

Running High
Every Hour N' Every Minute
Bigmouth
Hate To Love You
Old Car
Temptation
I'm Gonna Leave You
Killer Depression Blues
Party In The Woods
Evil Vodka Shots
Made For Rock N Roll
Deep From The Heart

Blue Rockin' are another band that slipped through my radar. Given their name I thought they were a kind of bluesy authentic rockabilly band so totally ignored them. What a musical related faux pas that was. They are not what I expected at all. This is hard hitting dark neo rockabilly (bordering on psychobilly) and is a melodic onslaught on the auditory system with extremely catchy choruses to boot. There are more than a few songs that stand out which actually make me look forward to going back and playing them again. The singer sounds like a pissed up rockabilly pirate with his throat burned out from too much rum and I mean that in a good way. Many bands excel in a live setting when it comes to pure power but can't seem to catch that elusive component when it comes to studio albums. On this, the fourth release from Blue Rockin', power is order of the day. Listening to it raised my adrenaline from the comfort of my couch...and that's no easy task. The downside to all this is that now I feel compelled to buy their other three releases. Add that up and it's money I could have spent on a low class prostitute. Thanks a lot Blue Rockin'!!

The O'Prez 2012

Blue Rockin' on Facebook