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Radium Cats (the)

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Radium Cats (the) – Pink Hearse

Raucous Records Rauc 013T [1991]
Pink Hearse / Teenage Werewolf – Haunted By Your Love

Radium Cats

The Radium Cats, the Scottish Psychobillies with the crazy quiffs, released this three-song 12“ in 1991 on Raucous Records.
Brothers Lee and Paul Paterson are still respectively on double bass and guitar, but Mark Carr has replaced Johnny Maben on drums. Maben later joined the Kaisers. Lee takes the lead vocals on Pink Hearse and Haunted By Your Love, while Paul sings Teenage Werewolf.
Pink Hearse is wildly rocking, with a Gene Vincent feel to it. If the melody is somewhat traditional, the song is highlighted by a hot guitar solo in a superb Gallup meets Setzer vein. Teenage Werewolf is not the Cramps tune (all songs are originals) and sounds more like a slow from the Fifties, although it has a slight gothic and weird mood (well, it’s a werewolf-themed tune, what did you expect?). The last track, Haunted By Your Love, is a slow-paced threatening tune, sounding like the missing link between the Cramps and the early Guana Batz.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

radium Cats

Christine and Her Rockers

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Christine and Her Rockers – Ain’t No Need

[2022]
Ain’t No Need – Come Here – Don’t Wait Up – Come On Baby – Gonna Rock My Baby

Christine and Her Rockers

Christine and Her Rockers is a Brazilian group made up of Christine “Carter” Ribeiro (vocals), Ale Marinho (Piano, guitars & backing vocals), Leandro Negri (Upright Bass), Denizard Basilio (Saxophone) and Pedro Leo (Drums). Marinho previously played in the Spaceballs.
This disc is an excellent surprise in more ways than one. First of all, it’s the best of both worlds with two Rhythm’n’Blues covers (Honey Brown’s Ain’t No Need and Lilian Briggs’s Come Here) and three Rockabilly/Rock’n’Roll songs by Laura Lee Perkins (Don’t Wait Up, Come On Baby and Gonna Rock My Baby). The group is solid and equally comfortable in both genres; one will particularly note the sax on the first two titles. But the surprise comes from the singer herself. In general, for some reason that I don’t know, female singers tend to do too much, whether it’s on the seductive side or, conversely, by giving themselves mean airs. How many good records are ruined by a singer who growls or snarls instead of just singing? Christine Carter sings without affectation, and like her group, she approaches both registers with the same degree of success. We can criticize a few minor details here and there, for example, the end of Gonna Rock My Baby, which is not particularly happy. Still, it is not such a big problem if, in return we have a singer who sings with sincerity and without artifice.

Christine and her Rockers on Reverbnation

Christine and her Rockers on Facebook

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Colbert Hamilton & Hellrazors / Nitros

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colbert hamilton

Colbert Hamilton

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros – Like A Rebel

Migraine Records ‎– MR 45-042
Like A Rebel / Cruel Hearted Girl

Released in 2020, this single (limited to 500 copies on red vinyl) features two songs recorded in 1993 during the Still Taggin’ Along sessions.
If the excellent Cruel Hearted Girl is not new, the A-side, Like A Rebel penned by Hamilton and O’Malley is even better. It’s an outstanding neo-rockabilly number and it seems hard to believe that it didn’t end on the original album.

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros – Love Or Glory Man

[2013]
Shake Rattle Bump ‘n’ Grind – Falling To Pieces – Roxette – Rehab – Bella Donna – Everybody Loves Me – Life’s A Bitch – Blue – Molly’s Chambers – Love Or Glory Man – I Was The One – I Didn’t See Memphis – Livin’ La Vida Loca – W.M.D.

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros - Love Or Glory Man
Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros – Love Or Glory Man

It’s good to see Colbert Hamilton team again with John O’Malley and the Nitros (who are for this album Jason King on double bass and Guy Shalom on drums). This is great neo-rockabilly, Hamilton having a perfect voice for that style and O’Malley’s jazzybilly guitar is everywhere. There’s a majority of self-penned tune either by Hamilton or O’Malley that are quite good. I wouldn’t say the same about the covers. “I Was the One” featuring Mark Keeley of Good ROckin’ Tonight on piano is okay but Amy Winehouse’s Rehab, Prince’s Everybody Loves Me or worse Ricky Martin’s Livin La Vida Loca seem very odd choices to me but as I said the originals are good enough and you can skip the covers and have a solid neo-rockabilly album.

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros – Wild At Heart

Nervous Nerd076 [1994]
Lucille – Wild At Heart – Still Rockin’ After All These Beers – Bad Reputation – Too Late – Boom Boom – Do You Wanna Rock? – Abused By You – High Flyin’ Cat – Boogaville – Pass The Bottle To The Baby – The Boys Are Back In Town – Big In The World – Ninety Nine Girls

colbert hamilton wild at heart

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros returned in 1994 with Wild At Heart (in the process, Hamilton returned to Nervous records), produced by the mighty Alan Wilson (the Sharks). And believe it or not, this one is even better than its predecessor.
Not only is the sound perfect, but the band and the singer are in top form. Moreover, they expand their musical range. Next to Neo-Rockabilly nuggets on which O’Malley, Taylor and Day show the full extent of their talent underlining Hamilton’s voice, you’ll hear more different tunes. Hence, the listener will find rather unusual covers like a superb reinterpretation of the Reverend Horton Heat’s Bad Reputation, or Thin Lizzy’s the Boys Are Back In Town turned into a magnificent Rockabilly tune (to be honest, the original one begged for this treatment). Also, the band and the singer delve into blues territories with Boom Boom (Little Walter), and Too Late. Both songs feature Detroit Donny on harmonica (who also played on the Frantic Flintstones’ Jamboree). Do You Wanna Rock is a solid mix between modern stuff and Rockabilly, quite similar to what the Rockats achieved with Make That Move. Totally on the other side of the Rock’n’Roll spectrum, Day’s Pass the Bottle is a traditional-sounding Rockabilly with piano and saxophone and plenty of references to Gene Vincent. The piano and the sax return for Boogaville, an instrumental, on which O’Malley’s talent seems to have no limits. Imagine an instrumental penned by Danny Cedrone, Franny Beecher and Mark Harman, and you’ll have a slight idea of the result. As if it wasn’t enough, Big In The World brings a touch of Soul (with hints of Roy Orbison) to this already superb album.
We couldn’t agree more with John O’Malley when he said about Wild At Heart: “I wouldn’t change a thing about that one.”

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros – Still Tagging Along

Vinyl Japan JRCD05 [1993]
Get out of my sight – Cruel hearted girl – Rollercoaster rock – Gaze into the crystal – Wasn’t that good – Cadillac baby – Dead of night – Black magic – Get you back – New place in town – Stop – Haunted memories

Colbert Hamilton

Recorded in 1992 and released the following year, Still Tagging Along saw Colbert Hamilton teaming with the Nitros (John O’Malley, Rich Taylor and Gary Day).
Get Out Of My Sight, written by Tony Coni (of the Hellrazors), begins with restrained tension before exploding into superb Neo-Rockabilly fireworks. Cruel Hearted Girl is just as excellent but with an emphasis on melody. Rollercoaster Rock is a classic Rock’n’Roll. Gaze Into The Crystal is built around a catchy riff around which O’Malley adds embellishments. The slightly veiled voice adds even more to the mysterious atmosphere of the song. Wasn’t that good is a cover of Wynonie Harris. Without horns, the song takes a more rockabilly turn. Once again, O’Malley’s guitar, combined with Hamilton’s voice, does wonder. Cadillac Baby, written by Hamilton and Coni (probably during the Hellrazors days), ends the first side.
Dead of Night is a Neo-rockabilly masterpiece. It’s one of the very best tunes of the genre. Taylor and Day build a solid rhythm, O’Malley’s guitar keeps the tension before bursting into a hot solo, and Hamilton’s voice is the icing on the cake.
Originally done by Jericho Jones, Black Magic alternates between Diddley-tinged parts and classic Rockabilly. The following three songs, while good, are more average. Get You Back and Stop are not that original in their form and structure, and New Place In Town is slightly too long to convince.
But all that is quickly forgotten with the fantastic jazzy ballad Haunted Memories. Alan Heller adds a second guitar and piano to complete the orchestration. Once again, the rhythm section does a superb job, with Taylor playing with brushes. Hamilton is perfectly at ease as a suave crooner, and O’Malley places subtle accelerations sounding like Django during his electric period, who would have crossed paths with Mark Harman.
Despite two or three more average songs, Still Taggin’ Along is an album that any Neo-Rockabilly lover must have.
The first pressing came out on pink vinyl.

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros – Cadillac Baby

Vinyl Japan JRT02 [1993]
Cadillac Baby – Silver Bullet – Cruel Hearted Girl – Born To Love One Woman

Released at the same time as the album, this EP is its perfect complement. Cadillac Baby and Cruel Hearted Girl appear on the album. Silver Bullet, a composition by Rich Taylor, the drummer is a superb melodic tune and would have had its place on the album, especially as a replacement for less original songs (New Place In Town for example). Don Johnston’s Born To Love One Woman receives the Hamilton/Nitros treatment and becomes an excellent Neo-Rockabilly. Released in translucent red vinyl.

Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros
Colbert Hamilton and the Nitros (John O’Malley, Rich Taylor, Gary Day)

Colbert Hamilton and the Hellrazors – s/t

Fearless Records – FEAR LP001 [1984]
Wow – Mystery Train – Half-Hearted Women – Women Love – Rock Therapy – Long Blonde Hair – Ice Cold – Long Black Shiny Car – Nervous Breakdown – Love Me – I’m So High – Good Rockin’ Tonight – I’ll Never Let You Go – Don’t Knock Upon My Door – Love Me

Some records are revolutionary, some are very good, and some, despite minor flaws, are like good friends you like to stay with. I consider the debut album of Colbert Hamilton like a good friend.
On one hand, this is an all-cover album (ranging from Gene Vincent to Restless), and the sound is a bit thin concerning the production. On the other hand, Colbert Hamilton has an impressive voice, and the Hellrazors (Toni Coni on guitar, Tony Parkes on slap bass, and Julie Gardner on drums) do a perfect job backing him. The rhythm section is simple yet powerful and effective, with prominent slap bass, and Miss Gardner plays mainly on the snare. It keeps the raw essence of the genre and is ably completed by Coni’s lightly electrified guitar.
All in all, it’s a good album recommended to anyone interested in the British neo-rockabilly sound of the mid-eighties.

Griswalds (the)

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The Griswalds – Do The Hucklebuck

Raucous Records – RAUC 005 [1988]
 Do the Hucklebuck – Cry Baby Blues – Robbie Robot – Sweeney Todd 

Griswalds do the hucklebuck

The Griswalds formed around 1987 (maybe late 1986) with Gary Pudney (formerly of the Nitros) on vocals, Clive Howling, a one-time member of the Frantic Flintstones on slap bass, Jason Loadsman on drums and Jason Barnham (ex-Furys) on guitar. 
Howling left shortly before the band recorded its debut EP for Raucous and was replaced by Matt Johnson on electric bass. Though not revolutionary, this four-track EP is quite pleasant. On the A-side, you find a sped-up version of the Hucklebuck (Roy Milton and many others after him) and Cry Baby Blues, a more average rocking tune. The B-side is more interesting with the excellent Robbie Robot, which sounds like a Psychobilly version of Devo and Sweeney Todd. The latter is a lovely ballad, a least musically, with lyrics about the demon barber of Fleet Street.

The Griswalds – Who Framed The Griswalds?

Nervous Records – NERD 047 [1989]
Fright Night – Surfin’ for a Blonde – Dead Time – Happy Hour – Hit Man – Blue Oyster Palace – Who’s Crying’ Now – Stop, Jump About – Rich Bitch – Gay Barndance – Crazy Little Kid – Spasms –  Mean Mother… – Tiger Feet 

the griswalds

After a tour with Torment, Roy Williams offered a recording contract to the Griswalds. When the band entered the studio to record their debut album, Martin Clark (brother of Rob Clark of the Rattlers) and Keith Bailey (ex-Niteshift Trio) had replaced Johnson and Loadsman, respectively.
With fourteen tracks, which is often too long for a Psychobilly album, Who Framed The Griswalds is close to a certain Psychobilly perfection. The band is tight and has developed an excellent and original brand of Psychobilly. 
Many songs have a strong pop edge, some with an interesting and unuasal structure (Who’s Crying Now) and others more threatening, like Fright Night and Hit Man. It culminates with their excellent cover of the Housemartins’ Happy Hour and demonstrates a band who doesn’t satisfy with playing only fast Rockabilly. 
Thus, Crazy Little Kid sounds like a cross between the early Frantic Flintstones and the Long Tall Texans, and Surfin’ For A Blonde sounds like a Psychobilly answer to Danny and the Juniors.

But the Griswalds can also deliver mean Psychobilly tunes with distorted guitar, as demonstrated by Rich Bitch and their cover of Mud’s Tiger Feet. There’s also some jungle beat ala Jungle Rock (Dead Time), a blues tune (Mean Mother… with harmonica) and Gay Barndance, which could be best described as Psycho-Hillbilly.

The Radioactive Kid

Griswalds

Various Artists – The Young and Wild Ones

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Various Artists – The Young and Wild Ones

Keil Records C.12-22-013 [2022]
Rango – We Are Rockers / Jerry – Undead / Marv – Stranger In The House / Jones – The Package / Paddy – A Life of Vanity / Jerry – Hot Rod Man / Jones – Treasure / Rango – Metro / Paddy – 666c Machine / Marv – Too Old To Live, Too Young Too Die
(+ CD with ten bonus tracks)

Various Artists - The Young and Wild Ones

You always feel like a kid at Christmas when you receive a new release from Keil records. You open your package, and you’re rewarded with tons of little extras. This compilation makes no exception to the rule: you’ll find a patch, stickers, pictures, two booklets (one with information and one with lyrics and illustrations), a poster, and a cd with extras, all in a beautiful gatefold sleeve wrapping a magnificent green vinyl.
But don’t let these pretty things distract you from the main thing: the music. As I said, it’s a compilation album. I’m old enough to have bought classic Neo-Rockabilly and Psychobilly compilations when they came out in the 80s. It was an excellent way to discover new artists.
There don’t seem to be many these days, so it’s a good reason to rejoice, especially when the artists are of that level.
The Young and Wild Ones gathers five young and very creative German artists with two songs each. The styles range from clean Neo-Rockabilly to wild Psychobilly, with many good things in between.
Jones (aka Jonas Heider)is the more traditional of the five. He delivers two excellent, highly melodic tracks co-written with Moritz Kruit (also on drums). Both songs are jumping and rocking with nice picking (in which one can hear some Setzer influences) and good use of the piano.
At 26, Paddy is the veteran of the five. His credits include, among others, the Rusty Robots, Sandy & the Wild Wombatz and the Minestompers. His two songs feature Mark Twang (Dave Phillips, Sandy and the Wild Wombatz) on guitar and Raphael Landauer on drums. Those tunes are on the thin line between Neo-Rockabilly and Psychobilly. They wouldn’t be out of place on a Batmobile album from the early 90s.
Jerry mixes Teddy Boy Rock’n’roll with Psychobilly to create a brand new genre, highly personal yet addictive.
Rango is the youngest. He was only 16 when he recorded his tracks. As if it wasn’t enough, he played all the instruments too. His music is a very original brand of Psychobilly with a propulsive slap bass in which elements of New-wave and post-punk subtly creep in. He’s something like the music link between the most recent albums of the Quakes and the Rusty Robots (whom he joined on double bass). Without a doubt, Rango is a force to be reckoned with.
Marv (who also plays drums on Jerry’s tunes) is the most extreme sounding of the five. His two songs clearly show the influence of the early Quakes and bands like Skitzo and all this kind of heavy Psychobilly stuff.
As you can see, this compilation’s quality resides not only in the artist’s talent but also in the fact that you have five different musicians with strong personalities. Each made me want to listen to a whole album from them.
The CD features ten bonus songs with alternate tracks, different versions and mixes, and unissued songs. It’s almost as if you’d had volume two on the CD.
Talking about that, I hope that the fine folks at Keil records with think about a volume two in the near future, and who knows, this time maybe with wild and young Psychobilly and Rockabilly girls.

Find it here.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang

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Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang - Wild Youth
Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang – Wild Youth

Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang – Wild Youth

Rockhouse [1982]
Wild Youth – She Will Come Back – 56 Boys –  Tainted Love – Love Me – My Turn – On The Move – One And Only – Flea Brain – Should I Ever Love Again – Summertime – Baby Blue – Just Can’t Believe – Wow

Having left the Blue Cats in 1980, Dave Phillips took some time off before forming his own band. Still with Gene Vincent in mind he named his new band the Hot Rod Gang after the 1958 movie featuring the screaming kid. The first line-up consisted of John Day and Ray Thompson on guitars, Rob Tyler on drums and of course Dave Phillips on double bass and lead vocals. But it’s the second line-up with Mark Harman from Restless on guitar replacing both Day and Thompson that entered the history of modern rockabilly. Harman was the perfect choice, his fast Gallup influenced licks being the perfect complement to Phillips. The trio recorded Wild Youth in late 1981 and contrary to what the cover reads it’s Tyler on drums and not Andrew Wrightson who was the band’s driver (even on the cd reissue features the mistake).
One can suppose that the label (Rockhouse for both) acted with Phillips the same way he did with the Blue Cats’ second album (with Clint Bradley) hence the presence of many familiar cover in a more traditional style (Flea Brain, Summertime, Baby Blue and the Phantom’s Love Me sung by Harman). But there’s enough modern stuff to make of Wild Youth a benchmark in Neo-Rockabilly history, the best known being their cover of Tainted Love. It’s an instant classic that will have a lasting influence on many young bands.
Essential to any decent collection.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Dave Phillips – Rockhouse Mini L.P. Collection

Rockhouse Records – MLP 8420 [1985]

Brand New Beat – The Fun Of It – In My Dreams – So Now You’ve Lost her – You Don’t Want to Know – The Trip

Dave Phillips

I said it before and I’ll say it again, mini lp are often the best support for Rockabilly. It’s short, every number counts and there’s no place for fillers.
Dave Phillips’ mini lp for Rockhouse is the perfect exemple of that statement.It’s almost perfect and dare I say, even better than his debut solo album.
Once again one can hear the influence of Gene Vincent, with the covers of Brand New beat (imagine Vincent revisited by Restless of vanish Without A Trace period) and In My Dreams which is probably the weakest song of the album (but to his discharge it’s hard to compete with Vincent on that type of song.)
The four remaining tracks are originals. You Don’t Want to Know features Mark Harman of Restless (and former hot Rod Gang member) on guitar and is a rockin’ ballad with once again the shadow of Gene Vincent over it.
So You’ve Lost Her is a medium rocker while the Fun of it is a fast neo-rockabilly with breaks later covered by French band the Happy Drivers on their debut album and the Trip is Worth th eprice of the album alone. This fast modern rockabilly number (with a dash of psychobilly) is a modern masterpiece.

Dave Phillips – The Best Of

Rockhouse records ROCKCD8603
Tainted love -’56 Boys – Wild youth – She will come back – Love me – On the move – It was free – The trip – Every walk of life – I saw her standing there – Sunshine girl – So now you lost her – The fun of it – Brand new beat – I’m gonna die – I’m driving home – Boogie up roar – Pink thunderbird – Cat man

If you don’t have any of the solo albums of Dave Phillips or the Blue Cats (which is, in my opinion, a shame), you should definitely acquire this best-of album.
It covers the “Rockhouse years” of the fame double-bassist, with songs from the first Blue Cats album, the studio recordings (including the hit Tainted Love) and two live songs lifted from the Live at the Rockhouse compilation album.
It also shows that Phillips always had the best musicians to back him, Rob Tyler on drums and aces like Mark Harman, Paul Gaskin and Mick Malone on guitar.

Dave Phillips – Understatements

Kix 4 U Records ‎– 4U 3334
Rescue – Desert Town – Every Walk Of Life – Next Stop – Night Life – Paradise For The Children – The Trip – Room At The Top – Sunshine Girl – I Saw Her Standing There – Dancing Shoes – The Fun Of It!

Following the success of Tainted Love, Bert Rockhuizen of Rockhouse/Kix4U pushed Dave Phillips to add even more modern elements on Understatements.
Hence, despite having good melodies, most of the album is made of pop/new wave-influenced music with a modern production that has little if nothing in common with Rockabilly.
Nevertheless, a bunch of great self-penned Neo-Rockabilly numbers (The Trip, The Fun of it, and the Beatles influenced Next Stop) and two good rocking covers of the Beatles’ I Saw Her Standing There and Buzz & the Flyers’Every Walk of Life, save half of the platter.

Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang – Look Out!

Bank Of Troy Recordings ‎– AR-92-1-33, My Way Records ‎– WAY LP 1223 [1992]
New Job – Git It – Goin’ Up The Country – It Was Free – She’s A Woman – No Comeback – Joy Ride – Ain’t That Good News – Handsome Johnny – Linda Lou – A Soft Growl – It’s Murder On The Streets

After going too deep into the musical experimentation with “Understatements” his previous album, Dave Phillips wisely chose to return to what he does best: ROCK! And what a better band than the original Hot Rod Gang (the faithful Rob Tyler on drums and Mark Harman as well as Paul Gaskin on guitars) to help him?
The result is a superb twelve track album. Some tracks a pure neo-rockabilly (almost Psychobilly for “It’s Murders On the Streets”); others are more traditional sounding. As usual with Phillips, there’s special care to write melodic songs (or cover songs with strong melodies), and he’s attached to add a variety of instruments (piano, harmonica, flute) to explore styles and moods. There’s even a slow, which is always a good point!
The only low point being the drawing on the cover.

Available here.

Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang – Good Thing

Fury Records F3035 [1995]
Good Thing – I’ve Just Seen A Face – Rollin’ Danny – Teenage Partner – Here Comes The Night – Linda Lu (Live Recording)

Recorded in 1995, Good Thing features Rob Tyler on drums and Darrel Higham on guitar. This mini-album features six covers. Next to the now mandatory Beatles cover, there are songs from Fine Young Cannibals, Gene Vincent, Hank Noble, and Ray Sharpe.
Good Thing, the song, captures the same vibe as Tainted Love. Phillips is as usual extremely at ease when it comes to singing Gene Vincent his idol, and both Here Comes the Night and Linda Lu rock (the latter being recorded live.) Surprisingly, they do not convince with their cover of the Beatles, which is usually one of their strong points.
The whole atmosphere is very laid back, and it benefits to the final result.

Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang – I Lost My Beer

KEiL-Records – V.07-21-009 [2021]
I Lost My Beer! / I’m Gonna Toss My Cookies

Dave Phillips

After a break of a quarter of a century, Dave Phillips returns with a brand new single (but a little bird told me there’s more in the pipeline). Some bands grow older, and often not for the best, but Dave Phillips has matured. I try as much as possible to avoid the overused comparison with the wine, but if you allow me just one exception, let it be for this single.

Backed by the excellent Mark Twang on lead guitar and Pete Deville on drums and superbly recorded, Dave Phillips proposes two original songs, thematically centred around beer (before and after). This man knows about essential things in life. This kind of lyrics evokes the likes of Slim Gaillard or Louis Jordan. Actually, the music is also a variation around their music, a brand of swingin’ Rock’n’roll or a brand of Jump/Rhythm’n’Blues without horns. The trio is very impressive by its cohesion and how they complement each other. Philips and Deville infectious groove allows Twang to jump and gallop (and sometimes he “gallups” too) over the fretboard. The final result is delightful, though having only two songs create a lot of frustration. It’s a strictly limited release (only 444 copies), so grab a copy when you can.
https://www.facebook.com/keilrecordsgermany

Dave Phillips & the Hot Rod Gang – The Big Wheel Of Life

The Big Wheel Of Life – Raining In My Heart – Bad Boy – Shut The Truck Up – Rain – I’m Gonna Catch Me A Rat – My Oh My – I Lost My Beer – Cat Man – No Moon At All – I’m Gonna Toos My Cookies – All You Need Is Me – Man Of Constant Sorrow

Dave Phillips & the Hot Rod Gang - The Big Wheel Of Life

The fact that a man like Dave Phillips, who plays this music for more than 40 years, still manages to surprise me gives me incommensurable joy. And boy, did he surprise me with his latest album (pleasantly, that goes without saying).
His latest collection of songs recorded with Mark Twang and Chris Bergström on guitars, Pete Deville and Patrik Staffansson on drums and a pianist (whose name escapes me right now, sorry) would show many newcomers how to play that music.
The album opens with Dave’s The Big Wheel Of Life: first track, first classic. The early 60s country feel fits the lyrics perfectly, and Dave’s voice which has gained in depth and maturity and, dare I say, now shows some vulnerability is perfect for this style. No wonder the song gave its title to the album. Phillips penned three other tracks for the album: Shut The Truck Up, a mid-tempo Rockabilly with piano and backing vocals, I Lost My Beer, and I’m Gonna Toss My Cookies. Both were released as a single on Keil Records. I Lost My Beer sounds as if Louis Jordan or Slim Gaillard had played Rockabilly, and by listening to Toss My Cookies, it seems that Phillips finally found his beer and had one too many, and the result gives a hilarious song.
There are also a few covers. It wouldn’t be a Dave Phillips and the Hot Rod Gang album without a Gene Vincent song. Rejoice, my friends; this one contains two: I’m Gonna Catch Me Rat and Catman. There are just some subtle changes if you compare their version of Catch Me A Rat to the original: the piano part, some jazz chords here and there, and a little difference in the groove, but that’s enough to transform it into something really new. Regarding Catman, the result is equally impressive. The rhythm section and the guitar rock as hell, while the piano forays into jazz territories and brings a whole different colour to the song. Buddy Holly’s Raining In My Heart is superbly served by Phillips’ melancholic voice, whereas Larry Williams’ Bad Boy changes the mood. The song is turned into a desperate bluesy tune with a Diddley beat and two superb twangy/burlisonian guitar solos to boot.
There are also tunes that you wouldn’t usually find on a Rockabilly album. But that’s where Phillips is clever and is more attached to the quality of the song and the melody rather than sticking to a specific genre. My, Oh My comes from one of Leonard Cohen’s latest albums and, once again, fits Phillips’ voice perfectly. King Cole’s No Moon At All falls halfway between jazz (the piano) and Gene Vincent (the guitar). The same goes for Morrissey’s All You Need Is Me, one of the album’s highlights. Rain was initially done by Jose Feliciano. Phillips keeps the beautiful melody but muscles the song, and Twang adds an outstanding solo. Superb!
Contrary to some (don’t insist I won’t give names), ageing doesn’t seem to be a problem for Phillips. With a newfound voice, solid originals and still that open-minded approach, his latest album could possibly be his best. But please, Mr Phillips, don’t make us wait too long for the next one.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Read our in depth interview with Dave Phillips here.
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