THE DEAD SHOUT
‘EPONYMOUS PRODUCT’
(Mental Records)
This is a four-track 33rpm black vinyl 7” single which comes with a shed load of bits and bobs, at least mine did, most importantly it’s limited to 200 copies so you’d better get with it if you like what you read. It’s a multifaceted offering, ‘Jump Your Bones’ is a hard rocking garage pummel, ‘Drag You Down’ has a western twang and a slapping beat that skips along at some pace with call back chorus. Flip it over and watch your speakers fall off your wall if you aren’t careful, it’s a beast of a trash fuzz out whimsically entitled ‘Love Song’, well it could be who knows, the quartet concludes with ‘Going Cold’ which is catchy as hell with slapping bass and earwig guitar, did I say conclude, there’s a vocal bonus with a surprise for those slow to lift the needle and of a nervous disposition. It’s a cracking EP proving without doubt that the Dead Shout are a versatile bunch, more please.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘OOH -EEE!’
(Bear Family)
Limited to 500 copies, this is a 12 track 10” vinyl album that spins at 45rpm and celebrates the short-lived life of the Stars Inc record label which shone brightly from Atlanta Georgia for a couple of years before its founder Bill Lowery wound things up and moved on to bigger things. I omitted to add ‘for better’ because the label left a small but glorious legacy of hot rocking music. Ric Cartey would probably be the best known of the artists included here with his title track, The Rockateers feature both Cartey and Jerry Reed on guitars, there’s enough slap bass solo and bar-room piano in their two tracks for these to bounce around the bonce for days once heard, Billy Barton’s truck driving song ‘Ten Wheels’ is a cracker, his only release for the label but a truckers’ song up there with the best of them. I span this full blast and the sound quality is astonishing as I’m guessing Bear Family only had some battered old vinyl to work with. I’d heard Billy Brown’s ‘Did We Have A Party’ before but it never sounded so good as here, if you ever needed a tune to get people jumping this is the one concluding a fantastic compilation, complete with booklet and extensive notes it’s essential.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘AN EVENING IN ITALY’
(Bear Family)
OK summer is here and there’s always the need for that compilation to set the ambiance for that romantic evening or just pizza night. This compilation fits the bill, if you are after an Italian theme. There’s a lot of music that most of us won’t have heard before which is always good, about half of the 28 tracks are in Italian and range from 1949 to 1962 a lot of it with a rock n roll feel. As you’d imagine there are familiar names, Elvis, Connie Francis, Dion and less known Sharkey and his Kings of Dixieland and Fred Buscaglione E I Suoi Asternovas just two from that list. This might feel like out of your comfort zone but it’s well worth a spin, there are surprises too, Lou Monte’s ‘Pizza Boy USA’ for example, the epitome of novelty, then bloody hell where did that guitar solo come from. There’s a whole lot to fall in love with here.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘THAT’LL FLAT GIT IT VOL 50’
(Bear Family)
Well, here’s a landmark, I wouldn’t mind betting that of all the rock n roll and rockabilly series of CDs out there that there are more complete sets of ‘That’ll Flat Git It’ than any others. There’s a simple reason for that, they are of the utmost quality, that’s in every way, the music, the packaging, the booklet, the notes and the sound quality. If people weren’t so sniffy about DJ’s using vinyl all you’d need to succeed as a rocking tune spinner would be this series, of which this is the latest of. This compilation of 30 tracks is dredged from the vaults of Epic and Columbia. There’s a fairly country feel to many of these tunes, with Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins, Little Jimmy Dickens and The Maddox Brothers and Rose right in the thick of it from the first half of the 1950’s. The evolution through these labels is laid bare too with later tunes from Link Wray and Carl Perkins from 1960 and 1959 respectively, the later date recordings of this compilation. If you have the other 49 you’ll want this, if you don’t it’s a good place to start. The sound quality is pristine and of course the booklet sumptuous and notes plentiful.
Simon Nott
TEX AND THE TROUBADOURS
‘TROUBADOUR ROCK’
(Tone River)
12 tracks by Tex and the Troubadours of whom I know very little about, but what I do know, is with Paul ‘Doc’ Stewart twiddling the knobs, they have got a certain type of groove going on. Tex has an unusual voice that really works well with the relaxed but rocking tunes they’ve laid down for us here. There’s a mixture of original and classic songs delivered in their own inimitable style, ‘Drinkin’ Wine Spodee Odee’ is an excellent rendition of an often-covered song, but looking at these guys, who you wouldn’t mess with, it’s a fitting one, ‘Kansas City’ and ‘Washing Machine Boogie’ also favourites that they do excellently. However, it’s the self-penned tunes that really shine, there’s that groove I mentioned in the autobiographical ‘Troubadour Rock’, ‘Living On Rock N Roll’ and ‘Didn’t Make It As A Stray Cat’ which really are the highlights of an all round excellent album for me. The trio, slapping bass from Wildman Nick, who looks deranged in the photos, Nice Nige, who’d probably save you from him on drums and Tex on vocals, guitar and a smattering of pedal steel have come up with the goods here. Git It!
Simon Nott
THE HYPERJAX
‘SCARS ON THE HORIZON’
(Wildest Card)
The Hyperjax have always been one of those bands that have been hard to categorise, they are without doubt a band steeped in the influence of rockabilly and psychobilly but are more than that, these guys once played Reading Festival. Both billy rocking styles are evident here, the double bass an anchor point to the past though not focal part of the music the Hyperjax make though an essential component to the whole feel. This album is powered by the urgent rhythm section propelling the driving force behind the band, Sam Woods who plays guitar and writes the lyrics of the dozen songs here. ‘The Scapegoat’, ‘Ain’t That A Kick In The Teeth’, ‘The Train You Never Caught’, these are songs about life, real life and regret with a sideways look and a sardonic grin, it’s rock n roll, with a capital R, psychobilly once the cartoons have fucked off and the bare boned running gears of rockabilly, it’s the Hyperjax best album yet.
Simon Nott
VARIOUS ARTISTS
‘Rock-A-Ballads – Vol 1’
(Bear Family)
As this is volume one it’s fair to assume that there will be a volume two hot on the heels of this 32 tracker. There’s definitely room for collections of the best of the soppy love songs of the rock n roll era, so if this one sells well there’s a vast reservoir of excellent songs to dip into for an ongoing series. Rather than go for low hanging fruit there’s that typical Bear Family compilation mix here, I listened before reading the track list so had pleasant surprises along the way, Tony Casanova followed by Tooter Boatman and Elvis Presley preceding The Prowlers with Les Vogt just a couple of examples. This is fantastic listening with plenty of variation though there’s never any need for the skip button as you and your significant other have a post coital cuddle up and brose through the full colour 38 page booklet, well nobody smokes any more do they!
Simon Nott
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