Willie Barry and the California Hot Shots

"Make Up Your Mind, Baby" b/w "Warm Beer and a Cold Cold Woman"

(Swelltune Records)

Willie is immediately likeable. His casual drawl and easygoing bearing shepherd pals down a dirtroad at whose end shakes a jukejoint filled with crashing steel-guitar, astoundingly elastic six-string, rollicking pianny, and sprightliness by the mason jarful. Jaunty airs by Bob Luman and Jimmy Johnson are accorded affectionate retellings. 2024 needs more like this.

Recommended: "Make Up Your Mind, Baby," "Warm Beer and a Cold Cold Woman"

Video: promo

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Pack Rat

Life's a Trap   LP

(Drunken Sailor Records)

Connoisseurs of 1970s Punk dug that cotton-candy lilts that sing-songed into grey matter were as proper to the subgenre as buzzsaw bar-chording. (Lore holds that the Bay City Rollers were among Mr. Dee Dee's favorite combos. His tunecraft often included brisk pop strains to which pogoers could shout-chant.) Pack Rat honors that sterling model; their multicolored party-streamer offerings buoy even the roughest rip-and-stitch customers with delightfully melodic friskiness. Plus (and this, too, is critical) no song exceeds three minutes - or even nears that mark. 

Recommended: "Heart Beat," "I Know You Know," "Sleepless," "Two Makes One," "Can't Stop" 

Video: "Sleepless"

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The Big Red Rocket

Lethal Western

(Diablo Records)

Diablo's Bandcamp page reveals scarce copies of this rampaging, vinyl-only release remain available - just five red and four black. Haste, then, is counseled for cats who dig alacrity along with vintage Rock'n'Roll fancies. Herein rave sounds at once redolent of yesteryear while frothing with freshness. Beware/relish homicidal guitar. (Most tracks appeared on blistering 2017 disc.)

Recommended: "Tracks," "HomeSick Home," "Lethal," "Rock the joint" (live) "Suicide Doors," "Matchbox" (demo)

Video: "Homesick Home"

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Spellbound

Live 'n' Loud At the Earthquake

(Diablo Records)

As is ever the matter in superior Psychobilly, frenetically slapped doghouse blusters at the fore. But it does not throw out capital racket alone; it enjoys reliable mates in six-string marauding, mercilessly pummeled skins, and bellowed snarls of stentorian manner.

Diablo has reissued this 2022 disc with a new cover, and is making these rumbustious recordings available in both vinyl and digital forms. 

Unfortunately, the members of Spellbound have since set out on disparate routes. But they have to their credit some 40 years of European wrecking and, of course, this rowdy document by which they can be appreciated into perpetuity.

Recommended: "Last Breath," "Locked Away," "Old School Boogie," "Johnny Roy," "You Scare the Shit Out Of Me," "White Lines," "Joe"

Video: "Old School Boogie" (studio version)

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The Glad Rags

Flipped, Flipped!

(Western Star)

Given that unrestraint invigorates this wonderfully rudimentary treat, one can safely speculate many happy legs will blur. Those wise to pastoral picking's manifest pleasures don't require reminding, but will doubtless throw arms about this crisp entry just the same. 

Recommended: "Flipped, Flipped!," "Betty Bang," "Mind the Gap," "Cry Dog," "Boom Bop!"

Video: "Betty Bang"

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Level Best

Drivin' the Blue

(Redstart Records)

By lovingly revisiting selections by Flatt and Scruggs, Buck Owens, Jimmy Rodgers, and others Level Best strengthen the Americana culture-thread that links generations. This is People's music. It is hand-tooled and tells of common-man life - its joys, aspirations, hardships, and (through dark days) faith that finer times lie ahead. Because Level Best excel at their chosen craft - fiddle, guitars, mandolin, banjo, upright, and sonorous voices raise the nobility of regular folks -  the deep worth of these cuts' original incarnations is preserved. Even expanded upon.

Recommended: "I Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow," "Good Morning, Mr. Railroad Man," "Till I Can Make It On My Own," "Streets of Bakersfield," "While I'm Waiting For You," "California Blues," "Drivin' the Blue"

Video: "Good Morning, Mr. Railroad Man"

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Howlin' Ric & the Rocketeers

Covers 3

(Self-issued)

Shake up a beer and spray dancing revellers, because to quote P. Wolf: "This ain't nothin' but a house party." Bandcamp notes disclose all songs were recorded live in bassist Adam's living room. (Oh, to have been among the fortunate neighbors). Adam also mixed and mastered this EP. Ric and hip cohorts rip through six honking blasts of pure Rock'n'Roll with finger-popping R&B countenance. Interpreted at peak volume, these readings surely made walls quake.

 Recommended: "King Kong," "Blame It On Cain," "Sha La La La Lee," "Ain't No Pleasin' You," "16 Tons," "The Leader"

Video: (live in Finland last month, non-EP)

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