JOHNNY MURDER & THE 25 TO LIFE: E.S.P. EP: CD

This wild psychobilly trio from Chicago’s Southside has been making noise since May 2006 and have released a great sounding and fun set of five songs. The album has that rockabilly sound, but it has a nice dose of punk rock mixed in, giving it a hard edge.

Lots of energy from the band, making enough of a racket that you would think that there were more than just three guys creating the music and add in the wailing vocals to the mix, now it’s a party! The songs go by fairly fast and with a great sense of fun and excitement that is infectious and will get you in a party mood.

It was great to hear more punk rock in the songs instead of just a hint and it really helped add to the intensity of the songs. These guys really can throw down and you can bet that this would sound great live.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Murder-and-the-25-to-Life/230259682371

https://www.facebook.com/SexyBabyRecords  http://sexybabyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/e-s-p-ep

http://sexybabyrecords.com/

THIRTEEN SHOTS: Tales That Start With A Whisper: CD

Based out of Birmingham, West Midlands, UK; THIRTEEN SHOTS have just released their sophomore album of horror / garage rock with a touch of rockabilly thrown in. These nine tracks are made with passion and enough energy to light up Times Square for a week.

The opening track “Death Jam 2000” kicks off with the sound of cheering fans and an announcer introducing the band before the music kicks in and it’s a catchy song, combining horror punk / psychobilly with some hard rock mixed in and holy hell…it works! “Zombies From The USSR” is a great garage rock song that will get you up and boogieing around your house and it will infect you with its infectious disease and turn you into a THIRTEEN SHOTS zombie fan, not looking for brains, but for all of their hooks to feed you. “‘Bewitched” is a horror punk song with heavy bass, and frenetic drumming, great riffs, and the howling vocals make this one a lot of fun. “Psycho Jukebox” starts off with an early rock’n’roll guitar lick then the song mixes a touch of ska and surf rock to make a catchy song with a great chorus. “Get In My Crypt” is a super hard-hitting song that name checks Dracula, has a killer guitar solo, and super thick bass mixed with pummeling drums. Listening to this album is like being a kid and going to an all day horror movie fest, showing the classic and sometimes cheesy movies from the ’50s and ’60s. There are a lot of styles mixed together on this album and everything flows together perfectly, making the album sound more varied and interesting than others who are playing in this genre. John  on vocals, Izzy on guitar and backing vocals, GMT on bass and Chelsea on drums really play with not just power, but with finesse and true love for what they are doing and it shows on every song. “Nekro-Sexual”, my favorite song with the classic chorus of “Stomp on my balls!” is fantastic, and “Tales That Start With A Whisper” is nice and gritty and ends the regular album perfectly. The last two songs are live and they sound like they were recorded in the audience which is a shame because the band is so good that the songs take away a bit of the excitement that the rest of the album has. They do give you an idea of how good they are and that if they come around, you had better get out and see them.

THIRTEEN SHOTS have released an album that shows the pretenders just what a band on the top of its game can do, kick your ass and rock your balls off! This is an album for psychobilly, horror punk, and people who just love good music fans.

https://www.facebook.com/thirteenshotsband  http://thirteenshots.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FreakyPugPR  http://www.freakypug.co.uk/

RAYGUN COWBOYS: Cowboy Up!: CD

RAYGUN COWBOYS are back with their third full length album of nine original songs and one cover of “Daddy Ya” by CLARENCE “Gatemouth” BROWN. This psychobilly band from Edmonton, Alberta started in 2000 and gets people on the dance floor from the first to last song. Their horn section sets them apart from other bands from their genre, and makes them a band that has more diversity than others in that genre.

“Break These Chains” really jumps out with the punk rock vocals, the rockabilly feel mixed with the powerful sound of the horn section. “I’m Coming Home” has a great galloping drumbeat mixed with horn stabs, passionate vocals and some tight guitar playing with nice riffs. “One Of Them Tonight” starts off with a rocking rhythm and blues sound that kicks into more punk rock with a ’50s feel and really was a favorite of mine. “I’m Not One To Judge” is a straight forward rockabilly song that had a nice clean sound that would have been a hit back in the ’50s or when rockabilly got popular in the early ’80s, great song. “Rock’n’Roll Ruined My Life” is a great punk song with great piano playing that would have fit in perfectly back in ’76, another great song that reminded me of “The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle” off of the album of the same name. This band really is unique with all the different styles that they play, keeping you guessing as to where they are going to go from track to track. Everything is played with conviction and love and just jumps out from the speakers and grabs you. Other songs that stood out were, “Daddy Ya” a classic song, “Broken Down In Montreal” a great honky-tonk song, and “Wasted Night”.

I was expecting a more straight played psychobilly album, but the diversity on this album took it over the top for me. This is going to get played a lot, my wife loves rockabilly, I think I’m going to have to play this for her.

https://www.facebook.com/raygun.cowboys  http://www.rayguncowboys.com/#!

https://www.facebook.com/StumbleRecords  http://www.stumblerecords.com/

SUBTITLES: I Am An Animal: Download

SUBTITLES are a two-piece garage punk band from Leicester, England and consist of Jonney Buck on vocals and guitar, and Chris Smith on drums.

First song on this EP is “I Am An Animal” and it just kicks ass! The vocals sound like a mixture of Joe Strummer and Lux Interior with drummer Smith doing a great job on his kit and Buck playing a mix of psychobilly and punk on guitar. Their cover of “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?” is outstanding and rivals the CRAMPS version for wild abandon and crazed fun. “Something Else” is every bit the beautiful mess that SID VICIOUS made it into, “Little Red Riding Hood” is another great cover originally done by SAM THE SHAM & THE PHARAOHS has the sound of the 1960s garage bands doing a cover, but mixed with a crazy guy on vocals, “How Deep Is The Sky?” has more frenetic playing and has a fantastic groove. SUBTITLES play a lot of great covers on this EP and unlike many other artists, they really hold their own and prove that it’s possible to play cover songs and still make them unique and your own. “Tear It Up” was one of the best songs on the EP with its non-stop beat, it’s one of those songs that just reaches out and pulls you in.

SUBTITLES really take the energy and excitement of the late 1970s and early 1980s punk music, mix it with psychobilly, add garage punk and whip it into a delicious concoction that you want to keep drinking from.

https://www.facebook.com/los.subtitles  http://subtitles.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-an-animal-ep  https://www.facebook.com/goodtimerecordings

ANGIE AND THE CAR WRECKS / HARD MONEY SAINTS: Live Death Match: CD

HARD MONEY SAINTS and ANGIE AND THE CAR WRECKS go to battle on this CD with only one true winner, the listener on this eleven track live album.

The CD starts off with five songs from HARD MONEY SAINTS who play some fast paced rockabilly and get things off with a literal bang with “Big Bang”, a super catchy song that these three guys play with energy. These guys play rockabilly with a punk feel and energy, but still retaining the classic rockabilly sound that will get you up and dancing. “The Slip” is a great song with super fast guitar playing that is just outstanding, and “Come Back Baby / Rounder” is a great classic sounding blend of two songs that bring to mind Sun era rockabilly. “Suicide Shift” is one of those songs that will get you up and dancing, the kind of song that the STRAY CATS would have killed for before they broke up, and “Ol’ Grey Dog” has some of the tightest drumming on the CD, the guitar playing is going to grab you as soon as you hear it with its finesse, and the bass is bouncy and full. The vocals are not yo country music twangy, they are strong and give you the feel of classic rockabilly. ANGIE AND THE CAR WRECKS start off their part of the CD with “31 Coupe” and the guitar playing is energetic, the vocals are mixed with some screams and the song almost is played like they are daring you to come at them with it dirty playing by the band. “Hell Riders” starts off slow and then kicks into high gear with some punky guitar playing, strong vocals and forceful drumming, “Moonshine” has a great sound, almost punk, but with early rock’n’roll mixed together, “Your Day Will Come” has some nice dual male and female vocals with the gruff male vocals taking front and center with the tough sounding female vocals blending nicely. The band is playing super tight on the CD with energy to spare that would get you up in front of the stage as soon as they started playing. “Draggin’ Down” has a great part in it where Angie breaks down and starts laughing in the middle of the song, it makes her personality shine on this album, and “Billy Ghoul” is about a serial killer and is just as creepy as on their studio album.

Both bands play their hearts out and you can’t go wrong if you are a fan of rockabilly, this will get you dancing and will get played a lot. If either band comes to town, slick back your hair, put on your poodle skirt, and get your ass out to see them.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hard-Money-Saints/226196980434  https://www.facebook.com/angiecarwrecks  http://www.angieandthecarwrecks.com/  https://www.facebook.com/SplatterhouseWreckords  http://splatterhousewreckords.com/  http://splatterhousewreckords.bandcamp.com/

ANGIE & THE CAR WRECKS: Half Grass: CD

Five piece psychobilly band that’s heavy on the ‘billy, their previous two albums, 2010’s Bender Bound EP, and 2011’s Boozed and Bloody, have been well-received and now we have their album, Half Grass.

ANGIE & THE CAR WRECKS have a great, fun and energetic sound on their album, you can almost feel their smiles as you listen to Half Grass’ eleven tight songs. “31 Coupe” gets the album off to a raging start with the band hitting all cylinders on this terrific song, that energy continues into “Draggin Down”, where the band is doing everything to get you up and dancing. “Dark Ride” is where the psycho part kicks in with its spooky sound and feel, and that carries us into “Billy Ghoul” where it’s not as spooky, but still a twisted little song all the same. Some of the songs that stood out for me were “Bottle & Friends”, and “Maniac” which reminded me of BOW WOW WOW a bit with the drumming, the guitar playing and the dual vocals, especially from Angie Ball who plays acoustic guitar and sounds like Annabella Lwin from BOW WOW WOW on a few tracks. “Duster Death Machine” had the sound and feel of being in a juke joint back in the 1950’s with its more traditional country sound, “Bender Bound”, and “Your Day Has Come” were other killer tracks and last song “Creeper” had a nice bluegrass sound.

A cool and varied album that took me all over the place with its diversions into similar, yet different genres. This was a trip that was well worth the journey and you don’t even have to sit beside toothless rednecks to have fun.

https://www.facebook.com/angiecarwrecks  http://www.angieandthecarwrecks.com/default.html  http://angieandthecarwrecks.bandcamp.com/music  https://www.facebook.com/SplatterhouseWreckords  http://splatterhousewreckords.com/  http://splatterhousewreckords.bandcamp.com/