Various Artists<\/strong>\u00a0(Cherry Red CDPSYCHO82D)<\/em><\/p>\n If you subscribe to the argument that today\u2019s pop music is so worked, honed and refined that it barely has any fun left in it, you might want to investigate the output of Cherry Red Records. The label\u2019s laudable policy of making available a huge variety of rock and pop gems from the vaults is sure to reward you with a slice of something more interesting than the latest talent show Which brings us neatly to a collection of bands who would surely have given The Voice\u2019s panel of judges instant apoplexy, had the show existed back in the 80\u2019s. \u2018Rock! Wreck! & Rule!\u2019 is a 2 CD collection of 40 of the wildest, most unhinged cuts of UK Psychobilly from that long, extended silly season. Taking US schlock horror aficionados The Cramps as their model, this frantic scene, held together with generous applications of maximum strength hairspray, oozed its malodorous way across the decade of Armani suits, ponytails and synthesiser fanciers, to little chart success but with a faithful and sizeable following intact.<\/p>\n UK pioneers of mutant pyschobilly, The Meteors are well represented by their \u2018Go Buddy Go\u2019 debut single, \u2018Mutant Rock\u2019 and excellent cover of \u2018Li\u2019l Red Riding Hood\u2019, the latter two possessing a genuine air of menace in among the 60\u2019s punk\/Link Wray stylings they proved so adept with.<\/p>\n Demented Are Go\u2019s \u2018Holy Hack Jack\u2019 and \u2018Satan\u2019s Rejects\u2019 defy the rock n roll template by, on the former, wigging out into psyche-like horn and drum lunacy, and the latter, punky , bass driven stomping and some deft guitar soloing in this great, long track. Their \u2018One Sharp Knife\u2019 is surely a fine tribute to the late, great Screamin\u2019 Lord Sutch, with its knife-sharpening intro, distorted sound and cackling vocal, a feast for the gorehounds.<\/p>\n The first of many lupine howls on these CDs splits the air in The Batfinks\u2019 \u2018Gonna Kill My Baby\u2019, which also gives us, our first murder ballad, and Stage Frite\u2019s \u2018Island of Lost Souls\u2019 shares only a title with the Blondie song.<\/p>\n The dusty, scratchy strut of Sugar Puff Demons\u2019 \u2018Family In A Suitcase\u2019 gives us macabre laffs before Guana Batz\u2019 \u2018King Rat\u2019 hits us with the mock-adolescent\u00a0 vocal that would characterise innumerable \u2018billies over the years. Their other two contributions, the stuttering \u2018Can\u2019t Take The Pressure\u2019 and \u2018Loan Shark\u2019s descending pattern hint at greater things for this band, often mis-classed as goths.<\/p>\n The unexpected polarity of cool creep and all-out comedy fest that is The Frantic Flintstones\u2019 \u2018The Lunatics Are Raving\u2019 is one of the more cartoonish entries here, balanced by their \u2018Old Black Joe\u2019 opening like a blues and quickly descending into a stomp. Nekromatix\u2019 tight \u2018Curse of the Coffin\u2019 ends up like a band-wide contest to see who can finish first, but no such grumbles about Restless\u2019 \u2018Ghost Town\u2019, the most traditional \u2018billy here, and a standout track.<\/p>\n No Psychobilly collection would be complete without the sound of skidding cars and the appearance of custard pie enthusiasts King Kurt, who\u2019s \u2018Road to Rack and Ruin\u2019 surely pointed to brighter prospects than the ones they ended up with. Another which shows promise, at least in the backing music side, is \u2018Skitzo\u2019s \u2018Skitzo Mania\u2019, with its daring step outside of stereotypical \u2018billy beat. Following hot on its heels,\u00a0 \u2018Long Tall Texans\u2019 \u2018Get Back, Wetback\u2019 comes over like an upbeat 70\u2019s blues\/rock track.<\/p>\n Alice Cooper would be proud of P Paul Fenech\u2019s \u2018Daddy\u2019s Hammer\u2019, with its sinister bass intro, weird, echoing voice and jokey mock-horror lyrics. Radium Cats \u2018Pink Hearse\u2019 is another gem, with some of the best playing on the two CDs, solos that run up and down the gee-tar neck, and a great vocal, all from a band who were none too comfortable with the \u2018Rockabilly\u2019 tag.<\/p>\n In among all these fervent followers of the Rockabilly Roll, The Polecats\u2019 \u2018Rockabilly Guy\u2019 wins the prize for no-nonsense beat, great, lively vocal, rewarded with actual chart action.<\/p>\n Heavy on washtub bass, loose plectrum strum and hiccoughing vocals, and sporting a major obsession with B Movie horror, this random grab of material can prove a little monotonous, but if you\u2019ve already shelled out your ackers for this, you\u2019ve likely left your taste-o-meter at the door. It\u2019s earthy teenage fun, and it\u2019s yours to keep. BUY HERE!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you subscribe to the argument that today\u2019s pop music is so worked, honed and refined that it barely has any fun left in it, you might want to investigate the output of Cherry Red Records. The label\u2019s laudable policy of making available a huge variety of rock and pop gems from the vaults is sure to reward you with a slice of something more interesting than the latest talent show nonentity\u2019s warblings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,71,74,81],"tags":[750,305,1085],"series":[],"class_list":["post-6832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-plugs","category-music","category-reviews","category-rockabilly","tag-cherry-red-records","tag-scenester","tag-uk-psychobilly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6832"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6838,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6832\/revisions\/6838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6832"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eyeplug.net\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=6832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nnonentity\u2019s warblings.<\/p>\n