The Nevrotix "New Worlds"

(Crazy Love Records 2019)

Ghost

Lost Contact

Eleven

Bad Dream

Hypnosis

Voodoo Blues

 So, with this being the third release from The Nevrotix I think it's safe to say that this band release consistently great material. This release is a six-track mini LP/CD filled to the brim with old school psycho/neo beats and space age sonance.   When it comes to new material and studio recording techniques The Nevrotix are simply streets ahead of a lot of their counterparts. Production and mixing on New Worlds is immaculate. These boys understand what psycho/neo is all about. In a relatively short time they've become one of those newer bands that have surpassed some of the psychobilly old guard in my favourites ranking. I'm not a one for dwelling on past glories and declaring that such-and-such an album from 1985 is thee best thing I ever heard. Certainly that era was fresh and the albums released back then ingrained the whole psychobilly thing into my psyche but it's a new millennium and The Nevrotix keep that torch burning and sound just as fresh to me as the first time I heard Batmobile's first album or Frenzy's Hall Of Mirrors. To sum it up, I fuckin' love The Nevrotix me! The little dulcet delight is out now on limited orange vinyl (99 copies), black vinyl for the colour blind such as myself and sexy CD.

Buy the Orange Vinyl

Buy the Black Vinyl

Buy the CD

The Nevrotix on Facebook

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Crazy Love Records - Vinyl Reissues.

Guido over at Crazy Love Records has gone ballistic in recent times reissuing some psycho and rockin' classics on vinyl. Have a gander below at all the goodies on offer from the prince of pristine and his label of loot!

Originally released back in 2003 as a CD-only album, you can now get your claws on it in both black and orange vinyl. The orange pressing is a hand-numbered limited edition of 108.

Buy the black vinyl here!
Buy the orange vinyl here!!

 This 2005 release from Rockabilly Mafia is also seeing its first outing on vinyl. Again we have two colours to choose from. Hard man black and gigolo red. The red is a hand-numbered limited edition of 110.

Buy the black vinyl here!
Buy the red vinyl here!!

Two tracks from Demented Are Go which were first featured back in 1985 on the Hell's Bent On Rockin' compilation album. Not only have we three colours to choose from (black, red and orange...the red is limited to 54 copies and the orange to 56) but the sound on this release is superior to the original vinyl release.

Buy the black vinyl here!
Buy the red vinyl here!!
Buy the orange vinyl here!!!

Late last year Stomp Records gave us the Gutter Demons 5th studio album. You can read my review of it here if you haven't already. Anyway, our Guido has licensed a vinyl release of the 12 inch throbber on both black and silver vinyl. You guessed it, the silver is a limited edition.

Buy the black vinyl here!
Buy the silver vinyl here!!

Spectre "Spectre"

(Killjoy Records 2018)

Out Of Time

West

I've Been Fine

Spectre

Hailing from East LA this is the début release from Spectre. What grabbed me by the scrote immediately was that bass. Guitar is to metal as slap bass is to psychobilly. And on this record that slap bass sound has been expertly mixed and mastered by Steven Venegas. It ricochets all over every song and you can hear those notes! This is something that more often than not gets lost in the mix. All you'll hear is a series of clicks but not so here. That Weight Watchers dodging big bulbous violin takes centre stage. The guitar has undertones of Latin American styling  in conjunction with a nice clean old school rockin' sound. Vocally, Andres has somewhat of an unusual style. It's like a hybrid of singing and talking. Stalking! Yes. That's it. Initially there were 50 transparent black ones available from the band but I don't know if they're still available and 50 grey ones available from Killjoy (still available I think) and the rest in good auld black. Click the links below to find out more about the boys and of course add this crackin' release to your bulging collection.

Spectre on Facebook

Buy the record from Killjoy

Hellacious Harmonies on Facebook

The Rusty Robots "Sweethearts, Kisses, Bloody Knives"

(Killjoy Records 2018)

Sweethearts, Kisses, Bloody Knives

The Last Man On Earth

Dust To Dust (Demo)

My jockstrap split at the seams when Anna from Killjoy Records sent me a package which contained the latest 7 inch from everyone's favourite no bullshit old school psychobilly trio The Rusty Robots. Kicking things off is a cute child's voice with an equally cute German accent saying "Rusty Robots" before the cuteness abruptly ends and the slaptastic rhythms kick in. There are 3 songs of infectious psychobilly to be had here and each one is a keeper...even the demo...which does NOT sound like a demo. The guitar has a nice blend of reverb, twang and heel damping. Coupled with a nice rich snare drum and echo-laden tom toms and finely slapped bass, it is what it is...the epitome of psychobilly. Melodically the boys are on point with each song title aptly named for the sounds to follow. The Last Man On Earth is case in point. The musical structure oozes 1960s sci-fi. The three-song-slab-of sexiness has a lyrically morbid range of subject matter juxtaposed by music that you can't sit still to. I always wanted to use "juxtaposed" in a review. Life goals complete. 

The Rusty Robots on Facebook

Buy the record from Killjoy

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The Cursed Bastards "Dead Head"

(Crazy Love Records 2018)

Psycho Train

Dead Head

Misery & Bliss

Demons Scream Tonight

Tequila Mockingbird

Me Not The Human

Armageddon

Six Doors

In Her Eyes

A Perfect Night To Die

 These Californians first came to my attention back in 2015 with their 'A Perfect Night To Die' EP. If you missed out on that release, then not to worry, it's included here for your delectation. The lads are no Johnny-Come-Latelys having cut their teeth in The Cigaratz, Stop Breathing and the Deadbeat Sinners. So this is their début album and it comes on CD and vinyl, the latter of course will please all the snobs like Dave Acuna over on Psychoholic. The boys have a solid psychobilly back beat with melodies that are more akin to punk. Not screamcore shite though. The catchy variety with substance. Add to that some raucous backing vocals and harmonies and you have The Cursed Bastards. Usually I'd whack in a few comparisons to other bands to explain meself better but not this time. The Cursed Bastards are very much their own machine. This is the kind of album that takes a few listens before you make your mind up. It took me a few listens anyway. It kinda creeps up on you. When you get past the initial power and aggression of the music you discover there's some fine virtuosity involved and you'll find yourself singing along (or in some cases shouting along) with the choruses. As I finish this review and remove me headphones the songs are still reverberating through me skull. 

The O'Prez

The Cursed Bastards on Facebook

Buy the CD

Buy the Vinyl

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

Gutter Demons "No God, No Ghost, No Saints"

(Stomp Records 2018)

Psychotrons

Ravenous

Cold Call

Devil's Hand

Damage Case

Faith

D.O.A.

Ghostrider

Bad Blood

Roadkills

Hell For Leather

Merciful hour has it really been three years since Unfinished Business? Well it has. GET OVER IT! Ahem, anyway, the trio of Montreal aural-molesters are back with their fifth album. It'll be released on November 2nd but I fall under the "really great guy" category in their pamphlet of "Fuckin' Hell We Love These Guys" so I have it now. I really am great! Now then, I've given this album a few listens and whereas the classic psycho instrumentation is there, to my ears, this is a more rock'n'roll Gutter Demons compared to their previous output. Proper underground ant-airwaves rock'n'roll. It's too testosterone-fuelled for the airwaves. Your average DJ wouldn't know what to do with the hairy-bollocked blasters on this album. However, I've always loved the boys ability to pull off a dark ballad too and the track 'Faith' is another Gutter Demons slam dunk that'll have the ladies' flaps giving them a round of applause. Other than that relaxation break though, this album really is an onslaught on the senses. It's the kind of thing that should be playing in the background during a dive bar brawl. It's boiling over with hard man attitude and swagger.

The O'Prez

Gutter Demons on Facebook

Get the Album