Keeping on-trend with the current apparent love for that old-school psychobilly sound are Russian trio The Squidbillys. It's the classic line-up of guitar, slap bass and drums with the guitar having that surf styled reverb sound. Speaking of reverb (and treble, which I wasn't but I am now), I would have preferred a little less reverb and treble in the overall mix. That's only a minor caveat in the greater scheme of things though as I do love echo-laden vocals and rockabilly-styled hiccups in my psychobilly which the boys supply. Thanks boys. Anyway, psychobilly by its very defintion is a derivative of rockabilly which can often be forgotten as the genre progresses through the years but The Squidbillys have definite rockabilly inclinations. They play psychobilly the way it was first intended to sound; rockabilly with lunatic tendencies and no sugar coating for the masses. As debut releases go it's good but I think with a bit more fine tuning in the studio they could be great.
The Goddamn Gallows...the genre-defying quintet (even though they call themselves "gutterbilly") are back with their brand new album (released on Farmageddon Records in the US of A and on Crazy Love Records for us European connoisseurs of bad taste), and fuck me, it's a psycho-hoedown of preponderant proportions. It's like a soundtrack to every film you've seen featuring deviant hillbillies, be they inbred or not, that want to cause you some kind of ruination, be it anally or not! Now don't get me wrong, they're not singing about taking you up the arse with cheers of glee..they just sound like a right evil bunch of bastards that you wouldn't want to meet while hanging your y-fronts on the clothes line somewhere in the Appalachian mountains. If 16 Horsepower could be classed as bluegrass then these boys are 100% blackgrass. It's all upbeat good-time sounds with predominant banjo throughout with a solid slap bass and drums backbeat but the whole thing has some very dark undertones. Menacing is the word I'm looking for...and they look every bit as menacing as they sound. There's all sorts of stuff going on sonically on this album (fiddles, mandolins, accordions...) which make The Goddamn Gallows sound more like a gypsy rabble than an actual band (and I mean that in a good way). Another quality release from the ever evolving Gallows.
Well then...these boys from Belarus certainly put the psycho in psychobilly and no mistake. Full of aggressive violent energy throughout, but that doesn't mean it's just a 100mph discordant racket. Au contraire! (Yeah that's right...I'm multilingual). This is melodious stuff but with a raw beat and vocal styling that make it sound tough. Speaking of vocal styling...whether I like a band or not all boils down to the vocalist. When the vocals kick in it can make or break a band. The lead vocalist with this band (Doc Orkenstein) makes the band! There. I've said it. The backing vocals on here are great as well. The combination of both lend somewhat of an anthemic feel to some of the songs. The boys are on the harder side of psychobilly. It's kind of reminiscent of the sound that evolved around the 90s from the likes of Gorilla or the Godless Wicked Creeps or indeed the sounds to be sampled on Crazy Love's "It Came From Hell" series of compilations. Standout songs for me are Strange Green Light, Bitch From Hell and The Land Of Nod Pt.2. My only minor criticism is that the booklet didn't come with lyrics included BUT you can go to the Mental Bait Bandcamp page and view them there...and download the album (if that's your thing, it's not mine; I prefer the physical thing in my hand...ooooh matron!). Anyway, this isn't music to woo your girlfriend with, it's music to pummel the shite out of someone in the wrecking pit with. This pleases me!
Something a bit different this time around. Crazy Love Records have released the soundtrack to Sven Halfar's pulp flick Dead. The music on here is by Nils Kacirek And The Peng Peng Pony. It's best described as a cacophonic and surrealistic Ennio Morricone crossed with Ry Cooder sound throughout with some horns here and there giving off a bit of a Squirrel Nut Zippers kind of vibe. All instrumentals (except the ones I'm getting to in the next paragraph) and the majority of them are quite short. Well, it is a soundtrack album.
BUT...four of the ditties on here feature Demented Are Go's Mark "Sparky" Phillips on vocals. That right there is the selling point of the album for the psychobilly completest brigade. If you liked Sparky's collaboration with The Hillbilly Moon Explosion then you'll love these songs. They're very much of the same ilk but with an even darker feel and also feature some duetting with female vocals (Dorte Benzner). Some of the best material I've heard from our Sparkles to date. Demented Are Go fans should definitely add this to their collection.
Psychobilly. The multifaceted bastardisation of rockabilly, punk, garage and whatever else you want to throw in to the mix for good measure. Born in the UK but nurtured and kept alive in mainland Europe with Germany being the big breasted lactating mother. So that very same German mother...or indeed Germammy has given birth to triplets in the form of Degenerated. Featuring Max, Sexy and Madman (of Psychobilly Online fame), the trio have released their début album and it's aurally and visually straight from 1984...not the book...the year...and what a fine vintage 1984 was too. I didn't like the album at all when I heard it first, second or even third time. It's like many phalluses (so I've been told) that fall under the "grower not a shower" category. Basically, if you take the four albums from Anagram's old Blood On The Cats series and stick the musical delights within those vinyl platters in to a blender then this album is the tasty result. Psychobilly has moved on and changed a lot over the years which is sometimes a good thing but more often than not the roots of the whole thing get completely lost in an overgrown punk with a double bass weed-filled garden. Degenerated are like a big bottle of weed killer.
The third album from Germany's Lunatics has a nice clean punchy psychobilly (bordering on neo rockabilly) sound. Instead of the usual horror fare they have that "feel good" thing going on with uplifting melodies that bring a smile to your face in a way that's reminiscent of the Long Tall Texans. To my ears the aforementioned Texans seem to be an influence on the band but I'm hearing traces of Lota Red and The Peacocks in the mix too. There are also some excellent vocal harmonies on here. It's not "psychobilly by numbers" so to speak. It's obvious the boys bring their separate influences in to the mix. What you get then is a variety pack of psychobilly, neo rockabilly, rock'n'roll and punk all stirred together in a cauldron using a slap bass. It's all low calorie and good for you too so don't be afraid to gorge on it!
I've been keeping a close eye on this Californian trio for a long time so it's about bloody time they released this, their debut album. I get the impression from listening to this that they took their time in the studio because they wanted to create something unique. Yeah that's right...I said unique. No easy task in the formulaic world of psychobilly but by Jaysus they've succeeded. Now I've been saying "they" a lot but if truth be known this recording is all the work of front man Kenny Hill...multi instrumentalist and creative genius extraordinaire. As a live act though our Kenny is flanked by Kyle Olson on slap bass and Manny Lutz on drums. There's a definite nod to The Quakes psychobilly/new wave fusion on this album but with that said this is unlike anything I've ever heard before. Paul Roman may have been some kind of Svengali character lurking in the background of Hill's creative thought process but influences aside, as I said, this is unlike anything I've ever heard before, and I love it! It's as though The Blackjackits have created a new sub genre of psychobilly unto themselves. But it's not just psychobilly though, or a sub genre, or anything that should be labelled or pigeon holed (even though the boys themselves have coined the excellent term "American Slapwave"). Why not? It doesn't deserve to be constrained within any one genre. Not any existing one at least. The songs on here deserve to stand alone on their own merits and the listener can decide. I've made up my mind and this album is a work of art. There's substance in abundance to Hill's lyrics and he has crafted some fine melodies throughout. It's quite simply one great song after another to the point where I was thinking to myself "well, surely he can't keep this up"...he does...in spades! Intelligent story telling through the medium of song is what it's all about on this album with Hill obviously drawing on life experiences which draws the listener into what appears to be his own dark, cold, rainy world. This is right up my street. Production values are pristine too. Everything is mixed to perfection and adds to the whole cruel world feel of the album. Lyrically downbeat but musically uplifting. Adam and the Ants created a whole new genre in the 1980s and The Blackjackits have followed suit in the new millennium.
