Pope Paul & The Illegals "When The Stars Come Hurtling Down"

(Dial Back Sound 2019)

Big Bitch Boogie

Beautiful Music

Drug Song

Signs & Wonders

Demon Ate My Dog

Up In The Clouds

I Love The Way

Awkward Dance

Jealousy

Old & Bitter

Goodbye

Eclectabilly outfit Pope Paul & The Illegals are back with another dose of impossible-to-pin down scorchers. This time on a big slab of vinyl and a sexy little download card for your aural ease. Once again, it's like you've attended a festival but as it turns out, only one band was on the bill. The lads transcend all the highways and byways of Americana and roots music in such a way that pigeon holes are well and truly roadkill. The boys rev it up, slow it down and drive sensibly in equal measure. From the manic to the melancholic. It's all here. The mixing and mastering is spot on. Crisp and crunchy, which incidentally is just how I like my women. Or is that cornflakes? I always get the two mixed up. No wonder I can't hold down a relationship. However, if you have one of those days where you can't decide what you want to listen to, then listen to this. It's like a various artists compilation without the various artists. I don't know how the lads pull it off (oooh matron!) but they do. And do so with fine aplomb. Once again, I'll get out my pimp overcoat and shove a load of links on the end of this where you can find out more about the lads and sample their wares for twenty dollah!

Pope Paul & The Illegals on Facebook
Pope Paul & The Illegals on Dial Back Sound

Buy the LP

Hellacious Harmonies on Facebook

Pope Paul & The Illegals "Start Gettin' Serious"

(Dial Back Sound 2018)

Up In The Clouds

Altered State

Let's Ragnarok

Start Gettin' Serious

Heartsick On The Road

It Wasn't Enough

Demented Swing

Sugar Spots

Off My Chest

Santa Ana Flu

Rip It Off

The prep-work that went into this review has been above and beyond the call of duty. Apart from adding photos and text and stuff...it took me 15 minutes to get the shrink wrap off the CDs. So who are these lads then? If you look beneath the surface of the household names within the psycho/rockin'/roots scenes there are bands aplenty to be discovered. Santa Ana's Pope Paul & The Illegals are one such combo. The trio formed in 2014 and this is their third album and the follow up to 2017's The Dial Back Boogie. That album was a rompin' stompin' honky tonkin' rockabilly rouser. It also had hints of what was to come on Start Gettin' Serious in that in places it was hard to pigeon hole the sounds into any particular genre. This is what the boys' new album is all about. You just don't know what you're going to get. It's a sonic box of chocolates for which you've lost the inlay card that tells you what's what. One minute you're chowing down on country, the next sleazy rock'n'roll, then garage-esque psychobilly straight through to high octane rockabilly. The confusing shower of bastards! The thing is though, it works! People not in-the-know often ask me how can I only listen to one type of music. I don't. Rockabilly and psychobilly may be the basis but then they have an extended family of all manner of inbred mutants to keep everything fresh. So, I actually have eclectic tastes....rooted in primal rock'n'roll. And that sums up exactly what's to be heard on Start Gettin' Serious. Now as if the pain in the arse of that shrink wrap wasn't enough, I now have to go add a load of links at the end of this so you can get your hands on some Pope Paul & The Illegals swag. You can buy the CD version directly from the band on Facebook or stream/download from the links below. They really are a shower of bastards, not just confusing ones.

The O'Prez

Pope Paul & The Illegals on Facebook

Pope Paul & The Illegals on soundcloud

Pope Paul & The Illegals on YouTube

Pope Paul & The Illegals on CDBaby

Pope Paul & The Illegals on Spotify

...bloody hell, just Google "Pope Paul & The Illegals Start Gettin' Serious"..FINE...I'll do it for you:
Pope Paul & The Illegals Start Gettin' Serious