Kokomo Kings

A Drive-By Love Affair

(Rhythm Bomb)

American blues as interpreted by Swedish devotees, illustrating the global impact the genre still has decades since its barrel-house birth. Affinity for the music's fundamentals, and their own singular winking folded into the bargain, total eminent satiation. 

Recommended: "Buckle Up," "No Dinner Tonight," "A Million Stars," "Get It Off the Hook," "A Drive-By Love Affair," "Turning Wine Into Water," "Jump Like a Chicken," "The Smile of a Shark"

Video: "A Million Stars"

Site

The Poison Ivvy

Cosmic Trash

(Junkie Business)

The technique of combining light-speed buzzsaw guitar with overtly poppish and outcast poetry reminds of the late, lamented Ramones. And that's the highest compliment imaginable.

Recommended: "It Came From Outer Space," "Da Doo Ron Ron," "Get Out," "I'm a Rocket," "Bored," "Wipe Out," "Baby 69," "It's Cold Outside" (live), "Ride the Snake" (live)

Video: "Baby 69"

____________

Pink Peg Slax

Evil Evil Evil Nice Nice Nice

(Half-Cut Reecords)

Not having recorded since 1988, the band turns in a respectble-enough effort. All the right moves are here. If it doesn't overwhelm, it at least doesn't seem artificial. And when your heart's committed, and the music is solidly dispatched, no one can feel slighted. 

Recommended: "Your Hair's Too High," "Those Days of Yore," "Kid Soccer," "Burnt Ruane," "Drive Real Good (Sportsnight With Coleman Mix)"

Video: "Your Hair's Too High"

Facebook

Beat Devils

No Circus Without a Clown

(Gamma Music)

There's a decidedly poppish edge -- a serrated one -- to this trad psycho four-track work And that's not a bad thing. A spoonful of sugar helps the strychnine go down.

Recommended: "Red Light," "Out of Town," "Weretrain Blues," "Goodbye"

Video: All tracks

Site

Facebook

Wanda Jackson

I Remember Elvis

(Cleopatra)

I normally avoid Elvis tribute albums; they compel me to hie toward the original for refuge. Robert Gordon's 2007 It's Now Or Never was an exception. Gordon's interpretations were alive and magnetic.

So are these covers. Wanda's personal reminiscences hold unique appeal. And her exquisite reinventions of classics manifest the original spirit. As someone who was on the scene -- and romantically linked to The King -- Wanda has particular standing.

These aren't languid museum artifacts, but vibrant readings. The stellar band ensures as much: six-string superhero Danny B. Harvey and storied Blondie skinman Clem Burke, for instance. 

Notable, too, is the exactly right participation (on piano) of Don Randi of The Wrecking Crew. His contributions buoy the material.

So possessed of honest rockabilly vigor are these cuts as to attract not only Elvis completists, but any big beat afficionado. The players  revere the Golden Era style while adding vivid contemporary flourishes. 

They wisely advance the general vibe rather than seeking undue individual attentions. The whole shakes mightily.

This is a rerelease of the 2006 Goldenlane Records original. The disc remains worth pursuit. Plus, it's now available on pink vinyl. Unobtrusively produced by Harvey, it includes liner notes by Elvis Costello.

We know1950s naysayers were wrong: Rock'n'Roll lives into the future. Here's the latest evidence. And it satisfies me.

Recommended: "Wanda Jackson's Introduction," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine," "Baby Let's Play House," "Give Me the Right," "You're Right, I'm Left, He's Gone," "Mystery Train," "Ain't That Loving You, Baby," "I Wore Elvis' Ring," "Wanda Jackson remembers Elvis"

Video: "Blue Moon of Kentucky"

Cleopatra

Psycho Devilles

Motor Honey

(Devil's Brew Productions)

As one expects with this rock-riibbed threesome, propulsive rumbles blast as soon as the needle touches down. 2016 release newly available at Devil's Brew Bandcamp site. Rugged tracks of sleek dimensions rocket from side to side.

In their slower moments, of which there are several, they display remarkable knack for venting extreme vim from quietude. They understand the power existent in keeping things in low.

Important work of tumultuous nature. And for all their stormy exercise, the trio never forgets to wax melodic. 

Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho Devilles are easily among today's top outfits. One listen convinces.

Recommended: "Lucky," "Motor Honey," "Road Rage," "I Built This Train," "Rock N Roll Life," "Loner"

Video: "Motor Honey"

Site

Devil's Brew Bandcamp

Nik Flagstar and His Dirty Mangy Dogs

Thriftstore Cowboys

(Independent)

Their strength lies in ability to express ideas in multifarious modes. From guitar squalling to rollicking 88s to finger-popping crooning to outer-space hijinx, the goods are solid. Impressive without being inaccessible.

Recommended: "Sociobilly," "Flagstar's Ruin (Signature Drink)," "The Ride," "Tomorrow's Last Night's Show," "Assistance," "L.Y.T. (Lil' Young Thing)," "Space Ace"

Facebook

The BopCats

Cruisin' With...

(Talsti Records)

Not the Canadian legends, but a promising Hyvinkäälä-Helsinki combo. Nothing genre bending here; things are kept within bounds. The result is roll-back-the-rug jubilant.

Recommended: "Only Wanna Bop," "Chevy," "Dodge," "Crazy Little Love," "Going Home"

Video: "Crazy Little Love"

Facebook

Rhetoric Vendetta

Call of the Void

(2949707 Records DK)

When "Death is our future" is a band's motto, you know they're not a source for optimism. But listen, anyway - the swerving collisions are worth regard. Just remember what awaits us all. Prepare.

Recommended: "Call of the Void," "Dark Passenger," "Outcast," "Cryptosperidium," "R For Vendetta"

Video: "Dark Passenger"

Spotify

Big Cartel

Various Artists

Rumble: The Best of Virginia Rockabilly

(JSP Records)

Many tracks here collated reflect the very real country leanings of the then-upstart rebel sound. Imparted thereby is the truth that rocking release comes in a variety of equally satisfying forms. It's all about cutting loose and liberating one's inner gone cat.

Recommended: "Rumble" (Link Wray),"Pepper Hot Baby" (Phil Gray and the Go Boys), "Wore To a Frazzle" (Tony and Jackie Lamie), "Rock Everybody" (Gene and Carlos), "Blue Boogie Baby" (Gene Simpson and the Rockabillies), "Everybody's Got a Baby But Me" (Warren Miller), "Rock'n'Roll Baby" (Randy Spangler and the Country Kats), "Grandpa's Rock" (The Trailblazers), "Somethin' Baby" (The Dazzlers), "Craig's Crazy Boogie" (The Downbeats), "Johnny's Rip" (The Sportsters)

Video: "Wore To a Frazzle"

                  "Pepper Hot Baby"

                 "Rock Everybody"

JSP Records

The Boppers

White Lightning

(Wild Kingdom)

This year, The Boppers are celebrating their 45th anniversary. No finer manner to commemorate that august marker than with the issuance of this latest disc. Sweden's rockers punch in with a vigor younger outfits can only aspire toward. 

Recommended: "Keep On Boppin'," "Teddyboys Are Back," "Lucky To Be There," "I Gotta Move On" "Motorbikin'," "King Rocker," "White Lightning" 

Video: "Keep On Boppin'"

Facebook

Wild Kingdom

Red Roosters

Take You To a Dirty Ride

(Singer Recordings)

Saxophone drawling lustily distinguishes this down and dirty, rocking, rhythm & blues-based set. Appreciation of the building blocks of rock'n'roll can be felt in each visceral passage. Sturdily significant.

Recommended: "Dirty Ride," "Baby Whay You Want Me To Do," "Shortnin' Bread Rock," "Mary Lou," "Guitarville," "Rooster Rock"

Video: "Rooster Rock"

Facebook

Slow Jams

Punk Standards

(I. Corrupt Records)

Angrily swiped chords and thunderous beats smashing into one another and splintering into lunatic insistence / Growl-shouted voices raging atop the fury / Intriguing, labrynthine arrangements that jet past in slap-dash formations / From chaos comes order. 

Recommended: "Acrimony," "Swapping Promises," "Cleft In Twain," "Donuts," "Run Down," "Sobriety of One," "Barbed Brain," "Parsimony"

Audio selections

I. Corrupt Records

The Rockats

Start Over Again

(Cleopatra)

This isn't the disc I expected. It's better.

Don't misunderstand, I anticipated a quality effort. The Rockats always issue first-chair work. But Start Over Again exceeds that already lofty standard.

It's a mix of originals, covers, and reimagined early tunes, and is consistently superior to peers' output. As countless international devotees can attest, The Rockats means the highest caliber of rock'n'roll.

Indeed, the music here is atop such a capstone as to render many competitors' toils superfluous. 

It's been eight years since their last CD, "Rockin' Together" (Lanark), and that was outstanding. The intervening years are as nothing, for the players are still at the top of their game. 

Newly minted originals "Rock, Baby, Rock (All Night Long), "Rockabilly Swamp," "Lucky Old Rockabilly (Walking Down the Pike),"and "Working Man" are apt complements to covers of Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, and others. 

1980 45 "Rockabilly Doll" b/w "Tanya Jean" is remastered and reminds of the combo's initial topmost promise. (I've still got the original cracking single, plus the two-tone mini poster that accompanied it upon issuance.)

Enough good cannot be stated of The Rockats' cohesive deploy of rockin' mannerisms. They never sounded more committedly exuberant.

Praise can rightly be accorded widely. Founding members Dibbs (he of the golden voice), Smutty, Barry, and Lewis all acquit themselves admirably, turning in remarkable efforts. 

And associates Mike Osborn and Blondie's Clem Burke are to be commended for in-pocket abetments.

Multi-instrumentalist Danny B. Harvey contributes enormously, including as mixer and producer. The resultant sound is pellucid, portaying all players in advantageous lights. 

(Not to belittle Danny's inventive soloing, but Barry remains the definitional guitar-voice of The Rockats. His inclinations amaze.)

However, there is one concern:

The cover Mick Rock photo dates from 1983's Make That Move era, as do performance clips in the promo video for "Nervous Breakdown." 

I suspect this is attributable to Cleopatra; packaging new tracks with old photos is a course taken with others on the label. 

But it's misrepresentative. There's an '80s visual ambiance that might mislead some purchasers into passing, unaware, on important fresh recordings. It looks like a retrospective.

Aesthetic apprehensions aside, though, and if the title is an indication, The Rockats may have a grand new conquest ambition planned. 

Some of us knew they had it in them.

Recommended: "Nervous Breakdown," "This Is the Night," "You're My Baby," "50 Miles From Nowhere," "Rock, Baby, Rock (All Night Long)," "Rockabilly Swamp," "Start Over Again," "Lucky Old Rockabilly (Walking Down the Pike)," "Rock Around With Ollie Vee," "Working Man," "Rockabilly Doll," "Tanya Jean"

Video: "Nervous Breakdown"

Facebook

Cleopatra

Johnny Cash

Live At the Carousel Ballroom April 24, 1968

(Bear's SONIC Journals)

Outsiders and outlaws were Johnny's preferred subjects, as well as his natural audience, and he looked them in the squinted eyes. He never seemed to be speaking about them, as he was one of them. And, by the doing, he communicated the lives of a sizeable swath of the American tableau.

Recommended: "Orange Blossom Special," "The Ballad Of Ira Hayes," "Guess Things Happen That Way," "Give My Love To Rose," "Green, Green Grass of Home," "Lorena," "Jackson" (duet with June Carter Cash), "Wildwood Flower," "Wabash Cannonball" (June Carter Cash), "Long Legged Guitar-Pickin' Man" (duet with June Carter Cash), "Ring Of Fire," "Big River," "I Walk the Line"

Holloway Echoes

Triumphs and Tragedies

(Western Star)

Per Western Star, all tracks on this limited edition colored vinyl issuance are "related to or about Joe Meek." Each remains in low gear and is pacific in atmosphere. Needed valleys, not hills.

Recommended: "Saturday Submission," "Beneath the Telstar Man," "The Spook Walks," "Calling Buddy," "Countdown to Suicide," "Three Coins in the Sewer," "Johnny Watts"

Video: "Saturday Submission"

Facebook

Western Star

The Glad Rags

Introducing...

(Retro Recording Services)

The absence of skins and prominence of acoustic guitar aren't all this combo has in common with the founding crop of rockabillies. In their oeuvre is a spartan authenticity that favors the genre's pastoral blood. 

Recommended: "No Use Knockin' On My Door," "Bird Dog," "Fallin'"

Video: "No Usee Knockin' On My Door"

Facebook

Killer Tone Jones

Killing Barbie

(Planet X Music)

At first, it was puzzling: the decision to bury the vocals. But it's a gambit that works, making the listener concentrate more intently on the messages. And those messages are mesmerically dreadful. These tracks are compiled from previous releases.

Recommended: "Killafornia," "Red Snow," "Psychonat," "Bad Barbie"

Video: "Bad Barbie"

Facebook

Planet X Music