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Cavemen (the)

Bang Bang Bazooka

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Bang Bang Bazooka – S/T

Count Orlock R.O.C.K. IV [1988]
Wild One – Dirty Hound – I’m Gonna Love You Too – Stop It Baby – Cheetah Man – Rockin’ Shock – Drive – Rocky Mountain Blues – Goldrush – Red Dress -The Blues That I Hate – Black Widow – Vampire

Rene van Lersel (drums) formed Bang Bang Bazooka in 1987 with Marcel Hoitsema (vocals and guitar), Francois Besson (guitar), Bart Gevers(double bass) and Rene van Lersel (drums).
Their first album saw the light of day the following year. Their sound combines traditional Rockabilly with metal. Despite being uneven in the songwriting, a totally wasted cover of Buddy Holly’s I’m Gonna Love You Too, this album contains a healthy dose of good ideas and originality that saves the final result.

Bang Bang Bazooka – True Rebel

Count Orlock C.O.C.K. VIII [1990]
Frankenstein Rock – Big City – True Rebel – Outlaw Man – Crime On Time – Human Alligator – Gonna Have A Ball – And I Play – Long Black Train – Joe Survived – Big John – Crimson Moon

bang bang bazooka

In 1990, Count Orlock released True Rebel, the band’s second album. It was dedicated to Arno V.D. Wassenberg, the band’s roadie who tragically died in a car accident.
True Rebel sounds like a better and more accomplished version of their debut album. Having Dick “Hardrock-abilly” Kemper in the producer’s seat marks an improvement in terms of production.
The songwriting is better too. A song like Frankenstein Rock, which shows the influence of Batmobile, could easily find its place on Sex Starved or Hard Hammer Hits. They also developed a more aggressive brand of neo-rockabilly by adding elements of Metal and Glam Rock (hence the presence of Crimson Moon, a cover of T-Rex) and even some Boogie Blues.
The guitar is powerful and very present, and the band makes good use of the two guitars even though the lead can sometimes be too intrusive.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Cavemen (the) – Dutch neo-rockabilly / psychobilly band

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Cavemen – Stone Age Beat

The Cavemen – Stone Age Beat

Count Orlock Records
Living Dead – Haunted House – Silver Surfer – Stone Age Beat (Wilma) – Wilderella – Is It Over – The Car – Devils Road – Vampire – Indian Style – Jericho – One More Chance – Do Do Ta Ta – Don’t Need A Job

Drowned in the mass of psychobilly releases in the late 80’s, this too often overlooked album deserves to be rediscovered today.
The Cavemen formed in 1982 with Marcel Hoitsema on guitar and vocals, Roland Verbruggen on double bass, and Jos “Toolie” de Groot on drums. Verbruggen previously played guitar with Mac Taple in the early 80s
After a while, Jos left the band, and Berto Rerimassi joined in on drums. This line-up recorded two songs for the compilation album Cool Cat Go Ape (Big Shot Records – big shot rec 001), released in 1986. These two songs were A Couple of Days and an early version of Vampire.
After these recordings, Marcel asked his friend Jean-François Besson to join the band. But after a couple of rehearsals, the new direction taken by the band didn’t please Roland and Berto that much. Marcel then left the band to form Bang Bang Bazooka with Jean-François.
Berto switched to lead guitar, and Ronald Smet joined as the new drummer. In August 1989, this new line-up went to Tango studio in Eindhoven to record the band’s sole album, Stone Age Beat. It’s an excellent album of soft Psychobilly with well-crafted and varied songs. Particularly good are Stone Age Beat (written by Hoitsema and featuring a quote of the Flintstones theme), Silver Surfer, and One More Chance, a humoristic slow number with outrageously fake cries. It also contains a new version of Vampire, which was also re-recorded by Bang Bang Bazooka on their debut album.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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