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Fia Sco & the Majestics – You’re My Sugar

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fia-sco-and-the-majesticsRhythm Bomb Records – RBR 5753
Hey Mister Cotton Picker – The Donkey Song – Dynamite – Shes Gone Gone Gone – Poison – Ice Cold Baby – Misses Whiz – Crawdad Song – Sag, Drag and Fall – Youre My Sugar – Catty Town – Snatch It And Grab It

This quintet comes from Austria. They are Fia Sco (lead vocals), Colonel Rib Kirby (guitar), Big Honzo (steel), Don DeVil (upright bass and he also did the artwork)  and Ray Hummer (drums).
This album is a fine piece of hillbilly boogie with elements of late western swing and pre-rock’n’roll (think Bill Haley’s Saddlemen). The band penned one third of the songs that easily find their place among the covers of Glenn Barber, Terry Fell, Freddy Hart, Sid King, Jerry Reed, Lefty Frizzell…
The young lady has a very good and powerful voice that evokes in her approach the great Rose Maddox (you sometime surprise yourself to expect a laugh here and there). The band is equally good, the two solists trade hot licks with an evident pleasure and the fun they have can be heard throughout the disc, while the rhythm section is just perfect, a special “howdy” to Don DeVil whose swingin’ bass brings a lot to the combo.
If you like the Maddox Brothers and Rose or modern artists like Lynette Morgan you won’t be disapointed with Fia Sco and the Majestics.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Kabooms (the)

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The kabooms - s/t - Rhythm Bomb 5807
The kabooms – s/t – Rhythm Bomb 5807

The Kabooms – s/t

Rhythm Bomb Records ‎– RBR 5807
Beggin’ On My Knees – Only Mine – Black Days – Johnny Rocket – Pretty Baby – Let’s Do It – One More Time – Point Blank Range – Always Late – Burn the House – My Baby Don’t Stop – She’s My Woman – Pack Your Things and Go – Hunter with no Gun

One says that a reviewer should never talk or write about him and I agree with that. But I have to make an exception for the Kabooms debut album. I now listen to Rockabilly for something like 30 years and I began to write for fanzines in the early 90’s. With the years, my knowledge of the genre grew up and it became harder and harder to impress me. When you discover a genre everything seems good but as the years go by you realize that you don’t find albums like Big Sandy’s On the Go or bands like Go Cat Go every week or month (and if you find one by year you’re lucky.) Sometimes I regret the time when each record I bought had a huge impact on me, a new stone to the building of my rockabilly culture.
The Kabooms made me feel young again. From the very first song, this Spanish quartet sent me signals that I was not just listening to another “good-but-not-so-spectacular-band”. Do you remember the frst time you listen to Fly Right with Big Sandy. That was a similar experience.
The Kabooms, who are Matt Olivera on vocals, El Lega on lead guitar, Javier Carrasco on upright bass and Alex Granero on drums, prove that you can still write (all  14 songs are originals) and play 50’s sounding rockabilly and bring new ideas. To quote Jerry Chatabox’s liner notes: they make it look and sound easy, it’s not.
Stylewise they remind you of Johnny Powers, Johnny Burnette and closer to us Rip Carson and the Flea Bops. This is not wild rockabilly, this is intense rockabilly, full of rage inside that just ask to explode at the right moment.  As usual the perfect sound of Lightnin Recorders in Berlin (with Axel Praefcke at the console) one of today’s best recording studio make it sound even better.
Keep an eye and two ears on this guys.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Cherry Casino & the Gamblers – Hi-No-Love

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Cherry Casino & the Gamblers - Hi-No-Love
Cherry Casino & the Gamblers – Hi-No-Love

Rhythm Bomb {2014}

Let’s Have A Crazy Ball – A Kiss From You – Breakfast – Don’t Let Them Know – Big Wolf – Hi-No-Love – I’ll Find A New Love – Dream Boy – Kiss Me – Happy Daddy – Just One Look – Where Can I Put The Junk?

I love classic Rock’n’roll and rhythm’n’blues and recently I was lamenting that, though we have plenty of Rockabilly bands on today’s scene, very few were actually playing straight rock’n’roll. And all of sudden landed on my desk via the fine folks at Rhythm Bomb record who do an excellent job the answer to my prayer : Cherry Casino’s third release. A rare case of a flawless album. Everything here is perfect. Look at that cover. Don’t you want to hold a 180g cardboard copy with a beautiful vinyl inside of it ? And now listen to the music… Axel Praefcke (vox, lead guitar), Ike Stoye (sax), Roland Ploog (rhythm guitar), Michael Kirscht and Carsten Harbeck (bass) form a super tight combo. They jump, they rock, they roll and they even croon (with such a singer they’re right to do so).
Praefcke wrote all the songs and managed to do a nealy impossible task. His songs sound totally original and, in the same time, you’d swear these are timeless classics that come from the fifties. Very few can do that (they’re almost as scarce as a weak record in Carl perkins discography).
And the now legendary Lightnin’ Recorders in Berlin added their magic to the mix making the perfect casket for these twelve little gem.

By far my most played record of 2014, enjoy these 28 minutes of sheer joy.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Nelson Carrera – Love is a trap

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Nelson Carrera - Love is a trap - Rhythm Bomb
Nelson Carrera – Love is a trap – Rhythm Bomb

Rhythm Bomb Records – RBR 5773
Love is a Trap – Cold Heart Baby – But She’s Not You – I’ll Be A Bachelor Till I Die – Who’s Gonna Love Me Now – Crying Time – Honey Bop – Train To Jackson – Proud Of You – Thanks A Lot – Hey Santa Claus – As Long As Lon As You Love Me Too – Knockin’ On The Wrong Door – When My Baby Left Me – Still Around

Love is a trap is a good album of traditionnal rockabilly and honky tonk with a fine sound that seems to come directly from the fifties. You’ll find a majority of self-penned songs and a couple of well chosen covers from Hank Williams, Buck Owens, Ernest Tubb, Sid King…
Carrera used two different backing bands bon this record. Songs one to ten were recorded in France by Steve Rydell who also played guitar with Pascal Freyche on upright bassn Jean Pierre Cardot on piano and Gael Peletin on drums. The remaining five tunes come from two different sessions with the Dixie Boys in Portugal. Both are excellent though I do prefer the mix of the songs recorded by Rydell.
There’s no musical revolution here and Love is a Trap won’t probably change the way you see Rockabilly. But that’s not what you expect from this kind of records and if you ask for half an hour in company of a competent rockabilly singer and with a solid backing band, look no further.

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Bird Doggin Daddies

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birddoggindaddiesBird Doggin Daddies – We Got the Bug!

Rhythm Bomb RBR5747 [2013]
We’re Gonna Rock It – Better Be Gone – Crazy Crazy Lovin’ – Headin’ South – Do The Bop Bop Bop – Let’s Go Crazy – Crossbone Jim Mystery Lane – Bird Dog – I Ruined My Suit – Daddy-O Rock – Lonely Blue Boy – Morse Code – Let’s Go For A Ride – I Got The Bug – Too Much Lovin’ Going On – Lil’ Pretty Miss – Sugar Coated Love – I Ruined My Suit

Are you in need for some Rockabilly? I mean REAL Rockabilly, the one that grabs you, moves you and sends shivers down your spine, the one that was played back in the fifties. Don’t look any further the second album of the Bird Doggin Daddies is EXACTLY what you’re looking for.
I strongly suspect this quartet to have invented in their basement a time machine they used to go back in the fifties to record their album in the studio that gave birth to this great music. The other solution is that they carefully listened to all the pioneers… hum that’s an eventuality. Whatever the solution the Bird Doggin Daddies used the result is a perfect Rockabilly album. The sound and the production are top notch and so is the musicianship. Take the rhythm section: how many Rockabilly records are wasted by interfering drums (too loud, too present…) Here, the balance between the snare, the bass and the slap is flawless. Once you achieved that the rest is easy, you just have to add a powerful voice and a skilful guitarist, et voila, that’s it.
The covers they play come from Don Woody, Luke McDaniel, Johnny Carrol, Conway Twitty, Derrell Felts and are excellent, both respectful and personnal. But what really stands out are their originals. In fact, they could easily be mistaken with covers.
They got the bug but it’s just a question of time for you to get it too.

Now guys, about this time machine, could we find an arrangement? I’d really like to see Buddy Holly on stage….

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

Cow Cow Boogie – Somewhere Down The Line

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cowcowboogieRhythm Bomb
Somewhere Down The Line – Home Cookin’ – Cash On The Barrelhead – Track 49 – Steam Heat – Rain – Sleep With One Eye Open – Ain’t No Friend Of Mine – Love To Live – Heart Stays Broken – Wild – She’ll Be Gone – Caravan

The world needs more band like Cow Cow Boogie. Why? Because they are cool, but even more important they don’t seem to care about boundaries . Led by the powerful voice of Deborah their lead singer, the band blends together elements of different styles and make them work to create their own distinctive sound by merging a blues harp, a rockabilly guitar, a western swing steel and a predominant slap bass. Their drummer adds his own touch by playing shuffles with brushes, drum rolls ala Fever or banging his tom toms like a wild papoose.
In the end, the songs range from blues with a hillbilly beat to rockabilly with a blues feel and all the combination allowed by this line-up with a touch of jazz and some 60’s girl groups  feel thrown in for good measure.
Definitely cool!

Fred “Virgil” Turgis

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