DC Larson's JUKEBOX JURY

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The Altar Billies

All In

(CD Baby)

Though previously unfamiliar to this writer, the Altar Billies are now favored. Ripsnorting trio rockabilly with both profound message and visceral appeal. There is no conflict between spirituality and finger - popping. Word.

Recommended: "All In 1," "Union Pacific Railroad," "It's In the Music," "Where Did You Build?," "Nothin' Would Surprise Me," "Rock'n Through the Night," "All In 2," "Hold On"

Video: "Union Pacific Railroad"

Pepita Slappers

Stop Play With My Heart

single

(Vintjarn Records)

At the crux of this economic pop-rock mini-classic is a guitar ostinato that refuses to leave one's memory long after it's heard. That and the other ace players mark success writ large.

Spotify

Vintjarn Records

Back In the Day, 2006

Cat Yanks

Live At the Sun House

DVD + CD

(Sam Sam Music)

"Powerbilly" was a term with which they described themselves, and it was apt. For, while all the usual moves were in place -- including Scotty Moore twang -- there was a modern edge that ripped from the speakers and asserted itself prominently.

Recommended: "Get Ready To Rock," "Rock Around With Ollie Vee," "Dangerous Blonde," "I Need You Tonight," "Tornao," "Voodoo Rhythm," "She's Dynamite," "King Of the Jive," "Rebound," "She's the One To Blame."

Video: live

Sam Sam Music

Thursday, June 16, 2022

The Courettes

Back In Mono

(Damaged Goods)

Obvious influences include Phil Spector and the Garage Punk/Girl Groups mini-explosions of the 1960s. Handclaps, echoing harmonies, rippling piano, castanets, symphonic sensibilities, dramatically sounded toms - all are employed reverentially, not as cynically derivative. And it's a testament to the duo's magnetic quality that the riff from "Hop the Twig," once implanted in the consciousness, refuses to depart.

Recommended: "Want You Like a Cigarette," "I Can Hardly Wait," "Hey Boy," "Night Time (The Boy Of Mine)," "R.I.N.G.O.," "Until You're Mine," "Hop the Twig," "Too Late To Say I'm Sorry," "Edge Of My Nerves," "Won't Let You Go," "Cry Cry Cry."

Video: "Hop the Twig"

Damaged Goods

John Paul Keith

A World Like That - Live At the B-Side

(Wild Honey)

Instruments stringed, ivoried, and brassy collude to raise up a blues-inflected masterwork. Author John Paul has the heart of a poet, the guitar of a headhunter, and the mind of a streetwise optimist; the combination is lethal, in a very good sense.

Recommended: "Something So Wrong," "The Sun Is Gonna Shine Again," "Miracle Drug," "Ain't Letting Go Of You," "Baby We're a Bad Idea," "The Rhythm of the City," "How Can You Walk Away?"

Video: live 4/28/2022

The Raters

s/t

(Independent)

Tilt-a-world, illicit thrills from the Spanish island of Mallorca. Not an appetizer to be gnawed at, but a full entree of twilit madness with enough amphetemine sauce to make the feast exhilarating. Best served repeatedly.

Recommended: "Nightmare," "Monsterparty Cathouse," "Psychobilly Shot," "El Dimoni Dins Jo," "Fever," "I Wanna B Bad."

Video: "Nightmare"

Scotty Saints and the True Believers

s/t 7-inch

(Ninety Four Records)

A mere 40 copies of this melodically marauding vinyl were pressed, so you may search in vain - but try, just the same. Guitar-forged punk reveling in its cultivated coarseness.

Recommended: "Better Days," "Not Your Enemy," "On the Outside," "This Time."

Video: "On the Outside"

Ninety Four Records

Saturday, June 11, 2022

500 Miles To Memphis

Hard To Love

(Independent)

One is immediately struck by the full, multi-faceted presentation. The haste compels. Vibrant musicianship is equal to the task set out by complex yet direct arrangements. A remarkable endeavor, worth attention.

Recommended: "Act IV," "Dead In the Water," "Dead Again," "A Pound of Flesh," "Stereo," "Drop Out," "Hard Pill"

Video: "Drop Out"

Under The Gun

"The Road" video

This issue bears remark: Snarling emotion receives apt interpretation from instrumental prowess. A blast that communicates and drives listeners to giddy turmoil.

Video

The Deltas

Spellbound

(Crazy Love)

The Deltas were among the first 1980s bands signed by Nervous Records, and spurred their style of neo-rockabilly with youthful cheek. Collected here are early tracks. Their pace is frantic, their right to legendary status beyond contention.

Recommended: "Heart Attack," "Blues In the Bottle," "As You Like It," "Shake Your Moneymaker," "Victim Of My Love," "Bad, Bad Whiskey."

Video: "Heart Attack" (live 1982)

Crazy Love

Back In the Day, 2016

The Afterdarks

Rock N' Roll Is Dead

6-song EP

(Independent)

It isn't just the vintage tone-mass, but the toxic manner in which they employ it, wringing every possible drop of vim and violence from what was in earlier hands already quite spirited. Their cemetery cred is etched by the Vampira paean.

Recommended: "No Good," "Ode To a Girl," "Be My Baby,"Maila Nurmi."

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Greg Townson

Beyond The Horizon

(Independent)

If you require a pedigree, know that Greg plays with both Los Straightjackets and the Hi Risers. Those bona fides alone should inspire purchase, but this instrumental tour de force moves matters a step further. It is at once virtuosic and convivial. One feels urbane for the listening.

Recommended: "Skip A Beat," "Beyond The Horizon," "High Wire Act," "Step Aside," "Topsy Turvy," "Let's Frolic," "

Video: "High Wire Act"

Daddy Rabbit

Let's Have A Party

(Independent)

Sure, the playing is solid, and the writing admirable. It's the sonorous vocals, though, that most distinguish this endeavor. Awe inspiring.

Recommended: "Let's Have a Party," "I Got the Blues," "Splitsville," "Hey, Baby," "Claws," Stop, Don't Go."

Video: "Hey, Baby"

Spotify

Mad3

"Real Cool Cats" b/w "No Stopping"

(Independent)

Mad3 have got the chops to back up their attentiveness to cat style. In fact, this swings out to such a degree that the fashion sense is practically superfluous. But it's so engaging, so much a visual complement to the music, that it seems organic and appropos.

Video teaser

Midnight Howlers

Rockabilly Girl

(Giant Bear Music)

A pleasant respite from cacophonous outbursts. Mellow and tuneful. The harmonizing is enough to carry the song beyond merely agreeable and onto silken real estate.

Video

Facebook (Singer/guitarist Neville Crozier)

Thursday, June 2, 2022

The Moonshine Stalkers

Return To Splatter House

4-track vinyl EP

(Devil's Brew Productions)

One manifest quality is efficiency of attack. A second is muscularity. Resolute beat propels the entirety, with stringed dive bombing carpeting the aural area for extreme reward.

Recommended: "When You Know You Are Insane," "Married A Martian," "The Mummy," "Half the Clown I Used To Know."

Washington Dead Cats

Monkey Brain

(Devil Deluxe Music)

Often frenetically paced, tilted presentation benefits from careening horn section. Hijinx of an otherworldy nature. Nothing wrong with fun for its own sake, especially when it sounds good.

Recommended: "Monkey Brain," "I Need a Place To Cry," "Man Made Monster," "Are We All Zombies," "Black Moon Is Rising," "Man Made Out Of Lies," "Rattlesnake Woman," "White Riot."

Video: "Monkey Brain"

Blowtorches

Burn It Down

(Devil's Brew Productions)

Were it not for combos like this, life would indeed be listless. As it is, these gentleman fly out of the gate and don't stop 'til you drop.

Recommended: "Motto," "Ridgerunner," "Murray's For Hold (Royal Crown For Shine)," "Burn It Down," "Don't Think Twice," "Name Game," "Nail Those Coffins Shut," "The Falcons Are Coming."

Video: "Motto"

Poky

CS II cassete

(Independent)

Hefting their instruments like bayonets, the jaw-jutting members of Poky seem happiest when making ear-shattering collisions of the sort that leave all bruised and sated. Punk lives - after a bellicose fashion.

Recommended: "UFO Landet," "Ganker," "Unpaid Debts," "The Crown," "Thomas," "Omelet."