Archive for August, 2011
MPFree – Get Zombified!
SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS (often shortened to “SCOTS” by fans) is a “keystone” band for me. THE STRAY CATS resurrected rockabilly and THE CRAMPS created psychobilly, a genre bands like THE METEORS, DEMENTED ARE GO and BATMOBILE fleshed out. FLAT DUO JETS injected a spooky, shambling majesty and REVEREND HORTON HEAT brought the speed [...]
Quotable Fenech
”Remember, if it’s psychobilly, it’s gotta have some rockabilly in somewhere. It ain’t just punk with a double bass.” -P. Paul Fenech (Meteors) (h/t: Lemus Surfin Caramba Facebook)
MPFree – Jeff Bridges
If only every great album were promoted with this ferocity. Gotta admit, I’m a little “meh” over the music. I love me some Jeff Bridges and some T. Bone Burnett, but this music either need to grow on me or I’m a little bored by it. I was listenin’ to some Milton Brown and the [...]
Rocker Covers Are Ready to FIGHT
..for their right to PARTY, that is! The above band is called THE ROCKER COVERS, a UK-based musical project focusing on covering non-rockabilly tunes with lots of rockabilly style. That’s right, unlike other rockabilly acts that lean heavily on covers, there’s no 20 Flight Rock or Race with the Devil in sight. They cover GREEN [...]
Misfits – Jerry Only Doesn’t “Rain” in His Mouth
Making up for their silly gaffe, in which Glenn Danzig was pictured in a tease about the Jerry-Only-led MISFITS release, The Devil’s Rain (October 4th, 2011), Rolling Stone interviewed Jerry Only, getting the details right this time. Rather sadly, Jerry Only doesn’t limit his comment to his own incarnation of THE MISFITS, but continues in the vein [...]
Elvis Link Explosion!
Elvis Week isn’t out of my system yet. Enjoy some of the Elvis-related posts I’ve collected over the last few weeks… Australians may call shopping carts “shopping trolleys” and may call the fine fast food joint Jack-in-the-Box “Hungry Jack”, but damn, do they know how to run an Elvis news site! Elvis Australia – Official [...]
MPFree – Muddy Roots 2011 Compilation Vol. 2
Muddy Roots Music Festival is an event in Cookeville, Tennessee on September 3rd and 4th, featuring Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Country, and Punk bands that honor American roots music, but play “with the energy of punk rock”. This compilation gives all of us potential concertgoers a chance to hear songs from every artist on this year’s [...]
MPFree – Stomping Rats
Like thumpin’ rockabilly and psychobilly from Mexico as much as me? Don’t really know? Here’s your chance to find out for free! STOMPING RATS are trading a self-produced EP for “likes” on their Facebook page. Pretty painless way to get some great music, free! Go to the STOMPING RATS Facebook wall and scroll down until [...]
Misfits-related Update
Earlier this week, I alerted you to the “tease” THE MISFITS posted about the upcoming album, The Devil’s Rain. Other sites, including PunkNews.com have confirmed a few more details, including: The Devil’s Rain will be released on October 4th, 2011 It was produced by RAMONES and REVEREND HORTON HEAT producer Ed Stasium They will be touring extensively [...]
Review – Steve Cropper – The Soul Man’s Return
You may not know Steve Cropper, but you’ve heard him. He handled guitar duties for Booker T. & the MG’s, a band that recorded under its own moniker (cue Green Onions) and also served as the de-facto house-band for Stax/Volt, the Memphis-based label that pioneered a distinctive “soul sound” in the 60′s and 70′s (cue [...]
Elvis Week 2011 Rundown
Today is the 34th anniversary of Elvis’ untimely demise in 1977, motivating throngs of fans to mourn his loss anew in a candlelit vigil at the gates of Graceland and prompting a prominent politician to wish the King a “happy birthday!” (Seriously, if you’re gonna pander, get an aide to wiki stuff. You can do it [...]
Fake News About Real Country Music
A story from a pretty feisty blog, Country California, has been burnin’ up the interwebs. At the risk of ruining the fun, know that this here’s a FAKE NEW STORY, like The Onion or The Lampoon, or any of those “clever” things Retro’s always laughing at, while she’s rubbing her superior education in my face. [...]
Misfits Make It “Rain”
Always prone to mystery, the modern-day MISFITS promise a new album, The Devil’s Rain “in stores and online, October, 2011,” with more details promised later this week. Of course, THE MISFITS have been many things and have included many people since the “classic” line-up fronted by Glen Danzig split in the 80′s. Currently, the band [...]
Farm Aid Fix – Text “FARMAID” to 80888 to donate $10
Farm Aid, for the unconscious, er, unaware, is a concert that country icon, stone-cold Outlaw badass and 420 ambassador Willie Nelson has been throwin’ for over 2 decades to help family farms. For some reason, America loves “farming” of the factory variety, but in much the same way the Mom ‘n’ Pops can’t fight against the [...]
MPFree! Romeo & the Frankensteins
What is Frankenbilly?” That’s the genre Mexican Psychos ROMEO & THE FRANKENSTEINS created to describe their monsterously raw mix of horror punk and psychobilly. Despite hailing from Queretaro, Qro, Mexico, Romeo von Frankenstein sings (bellows?) about all manner of supernatural depravity in English, but retains the hard edge I love from bands in the Mexican scene. Unconvinced? [...]
Happy Birthday Lux Drummerette (Nekromantix)
Lux Drummerette filled the NEKROMANTIX drum stool left empty by the tragic loss of Andy DeMize in 2009. When he died in a car accident, Kim Nekroman tapped this ferocious female drummer, who emerged from the Orange County speed/thrash/death/doom metal community, to keep the psycho beat. After touring with the Nekromantix for a few years, [...]
Happy Birthday to Buck Owens and Porter Wagoner
Both born today, Porter Wagoner, Countrypolitian King, TV host and devote of the sequined and embroidered Nudie Suits, in 1927 and Buck Owens, the architect of the Bakersfield Sound and pal of Don Rich, in 1929. Here they are, pickin’ and grinnin’, each in their own special way. R.I.P., guys. (h/t for the Buck vid to Bloodshot Records) [...]
Quotable Cash
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” -Johnny Cash (quote via Legacy Recordings [...]
New Los Gatos Locos Album for “Sociopaths”
LOS GATOS LOCOS [myspace|facebook] are releasing an album… but unlike the Brains (see yesterday), they gave us all a title – the very psycho-sounding “Even Sociopaths Get the Blues” - and a release date… kind of. I’ll let the band explain: Okay, so here’s the skinny. Orders can be made direct from ZKR (Zodiac Killer Records) for [...]
RKH Reads by Kustom
Montreal’s THE BRAINS teased that they’re about to drop a new album on their Facebook page, but with no details, yet. PsychoRadio on Facebook has a fun list of do’s and don’ts for helping your local psychobilly scene. The videos featured on the page is a great way to get up to speed on the [...]
RKH Reads by Honkytonk
Rolling Stone‘s sayin’ that Bob Dylan’s record label (didn’t know he had one), Egyptian Records, is puttin’ out a record with a bunch of hipsters like Jack White and Boomer-era folks like Levon Helm, Jacob Dylan (hmmm, ironic there’d be two guys named Dylan… oh, what? His kid? Nevermind.) and some actual respectable country artists like [...]
Nick 13′s Solo Album – Amazon Deal of the Day – $3.99!
If you haven’t bought Nick13‘s self-titled country-tinged solo record yet, you can buy it for less than a sandwich. For the next 24 hrs. (as of this writing, on Tuesday, August 9, 2011), the songs are available as DRM-free MP3 downloads/free Amazon cloud thingie for $3.99 at Amazon.com. Nick13 is the frontman of psychobilly uber-stars [...]
RKH Reads by Retro
Rolling Stone puts a spotlight on a Chuck Berry statue in his hometown of St. Louis. Fantagraphics, a graphic novel and comic book publisher with a reputation for quality, is working its magic in a series of high-end reprints of EC Comics. EC Comics were a whole list of eerie, violent and bizarre titles. These [...]
RKH Reads by Kustom
The Houston Press did a rundown of THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT’s non-album tracks (some of which were also included on albums. A mention of a Sinatra cover was news to me… and I got the Ace Ventura II soundtrack to get a stray RHH track! I like the cut of The Houston Press’ jib. Here’s [...]
Mariachi El Bronx
Psychobilly rules my world. The genius of psychobilly, in the words of THE CRAMPS lead singer, Lux Interior, is that it’s “…one half hillbilly and one half punk…” The injection of punk attitude into traditional song forms can be a best of both worlds/chocolate and peanut butter kinda thing. If punk gets repetitive and folk music gets boring, [...]
