TERRELL'S TUNEUP: LAUGHIN' MORE THAN CRYIN'

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 11, 2009

On his new album, Laughin' & Cryin', released last week, The Reverend Horton Heat has slowed down a bit since his old psychobilly freakout days 20 years ago or so.

The man from Dallas is still capable of playing with wild energy. He proved that when I saw him at the Hootenanny festival in California a couple of months ago. But in his recordings through the years, he's become a little jazzier, maybe a little more country, and it sounds like he's paying more attention to his vocals. As he declares in one of the songs on his first album in five years (or at least his first non-Christmas album in that time), he's taken a definite stand on the great culture war between death-metal guys and rockabilly cats.

But The Rev. (whose real name is Jim Heath) still has a knack for machine-gun twang-guitar licks. And the man who introduced us to the concept of the "Big Dwarf Rodeo" all those years ago still has a love for crazy novelty songs. Laughin' & Cryin' is in fact built upon a foundation of topical songs, some of which have the potential to become Heat standards. Others stand a good chance of being remembered by Heat fans as weird curiosities.

One of those tunes is bound to become a favorite with New Mexico fans. "Ain't No Saguaro in Texas" is a musical complaint, featuring some Mexican-style accordion, about the fact that "Hollywood and misinformed artists" have the knack of depicting his home state as having tall saguaro cacti — which, in the U.S., only grows in Arizona and a small part of California. We've got the same problem in New Mexico. Sometimes politicians here who have hired out-of-state companies to do their ads find pictures of mighty saguaros decorating their campaign literature.

Speaking of Texas, another song on Laughin' and Cryin', "There's a Little Bit of Everything in Texas" sounds like Heat's making a serious bid to get a gig with his home state's tourism department.

Heat gives some good advice to parents in "Please Don't Take the Baby to the Liquor Store." This song reminds me of an old tune by the Dead Milkmen, "Let's Get the Baby High."

One of my favorites here is "Crazy Ex-Boyfriend," a tune about an obsessed former lover. "The next time she saw him, he called her a slut/So I rolled up my sleeves and kicked his butt."

But the CD's best song won't be well received by the politically correct. "Rural Point of View" is a defense of big old pickup trucks over little electric cars and a screed against Ivy League professors and organic-food snobs. "That pompous little fool can ride his bike to school 'cause a farmer with a truck is how he eats."

And yes, that "Death Metal Guys" song. Wanna know the real difference between rockabilly cats and death-metal dudes? Jerry Lee Lewis shot his bass player. But a death-metal guy, according to The Rev. Heat, would have "eaten his brain."

This album isn't very deep. But deep's overrated. Laughin' & Cryin' is lots of fun.

Also recommended

* The Fine of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008 by Drive-By Truckers. Like the title explains, this is an odds 'n' sods collection of outtakes, alternate takes, cover songs, and other previously unreleased tracks by these wild-eyed Southern boys. To be honest, I find this album fresher than the Truckers' past couple of studio albums.

The album kicks off with an irreverent ode to a honky-tonk hero. "George Jones Talkin' Cell Phone Blues" deals with the Possum's 1999 car wreck. (He was driving drunk and yakking with his daughter on a cell phone when he drove off a bridge.)

The Truckers' song, written and sung by Patterson Hood, is an upbeat country rocker with John Neff's sweet steel guitar. It's got some wickedly funny lines Jones fans will recognize. ("I heard it on the news, you almost stopped loving her today/Better stay on that riding lawnmower if you're gonna keep on carrying on that way.") The love for Jones and his music is obvious in every lick.

But the strongest song here is Hood's weird slow burner called "The Great Car Dealer War." Apparently an outtake from The Dirty South (still my favorite DBT album), this is the story of a guy paid to torch vehicles at a car lot. The best lyrics: "I don't ask questions, I don't assume/I just take a long hard look when I walk into a room."

There are two opposing views about the Tennessee Valley Authority on the CD. One features on a rerecording of Trucker Mike Cooley's "Uncle Frank," a song that first appeared on the DBT's second album, Pizza Deliverance. In it, Frank kills himself after being ripped off by the government. On the other hand, there's former Trucker Jason Isbell's "TVA," which sounds like a Steve Earle song. He credits the TVA for bringing jobs and electricity to the South, as well as for his first teenage sexual conquest.

For pure twistedness, there's a funny Christmas song called "Mrs. Claus' Kimono" Full of adultery, class warfare, and an undercurrent of violence, it almost sounds like a parody of the Drive-By Truckers. And there's a story about a reindeer that Burl Ives never sang about.

The cover songs, for the most part, are inspired. Various Truckers trade off verses of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." There's a snarling version of Warren Zevon's "Play It All Night Long." ("Sweet home Alabama, play that dead band's song.") And best of all is a heartfelt version of Tom T. Hall's "Mama Bake a Pie (Daddy Kill a Chicken)." This is the story of a soldier coming home from war after having a leg blown off. He tries to keep his humor, but he's also got a bottle under his blanket.

The only misstep is a cover of Tom Petty's "Rebels." The DBTs do it like a Springsteen anthem. It sounds tacky in the company of "The Great Car Dealer War" and "Mama Bake a Pie."

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, September 6, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
I'm in With the Out Crowd by Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
Wolfman Boogie Part 1 by Wolfman Jack & The Wolf Pack
Hey Grandma by Moby Grape
Granny Tops 'em at the Hop by The A-Bones
Dustbowl Flashback by Roy & The Devil's Motorcycle
Wild Wild Lover by The Monsters
Goodbye Ramona by The Neckbones
Skinny Jimmy by The Del Moroccos
Hurdy Gurdy Man by The Butthole Surfers
Woe is Me by The Cadillacs

Psycho Lover by The Things
13 Ghosts by Marshmallow Overcoat
A Thousand Shadows by The Seeds
Teeth by The Mekons
Back in Business by J.J. & The Real Jerks
Have You Ever Spent the Night in Jail? by The Standells
Precious Thing by Big Black
I Wanna Be Your Favorite Pair of Pajamas by Andre Williams & The Green Hornet
Ride the Torpedo by The Tallboys
Don't Worry 'bout That Mule by Louis Jordan


SOUL POWER SET
Soul Power by James Brown
Santa Barbara by Celia Cruz
Saturday Night Fish Fry by B.B. King
Mosadi Ku Rima by Miriam Makeba
I Don't You on My Mind by Bill Withers
Feast of the Mau Mau by Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Ifa by Tunji Oyelana & The Benders
Amos Moses by Primus
Busman's Honeymoon by Pere Ubu
Junco Partner by The Clash
September Song by Lou Reed
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, September 4, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Always Late With Your Kisses by Merle Haggard
Kiss Me Quick an Go by The Maddox Brothers & Rose
I'm Your Man by The Derailers
One Bad Stud by The Blasters
Blazing Trailer of Love by Neil Mooney
A Living Hell by The Bottle Rockets
Devil's Run by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies
Rural Point of View by The Rev. Horton Heat
Bad Luck Dice by Clifford Gibson

Tex Mex Mile by The Gourds
Got U on My Mind by The Watzloves
Liquored Up by Southern Culture on the Skids
I Do Drive a Truck by Jon Wayne
Faraway Eyes by The Rolling Stones
Cook County Jail by Ethyl & The Regulars
I'm Tired of Pretending by Hank Thompson
The Sunny Side of the Moon by Johnny Dilks

Barbecue by Devil in a Woodpile
Turn it On, Turn It On, Turn It On by Tom T. Hall
Mama Bake a Pie by Drive-By Truckers
Going Up the Country by Jimbo Mathus
Good Enough for Grandad by The Squirrel Nut Zippers
Satellite Baby by Skip Stanley
Bluest Boy in Town by Yuichi & The Hilltone Boys
Gee I Really Love You by Heavy Trash
(This Ain't Just Another) Lust Affair by Mel Street

Seven Eleven Heaven by Danny Santos
Bruises for Pearls by Trailer Bride
It Wouldn't Be Hell Without You by Cornell Hurd
One Spectacular Moon by Jaime Michaels
Let Me Be The Judge by Amber Digby
Cross My Heart by Martin Zellar
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP:SOUL POWER

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
September 4, 2009

In a showdown dubbed “Rumble in the Jungle,” two African American giants met in the ring in a land called Zaire in the mid-’70s. Such a momentous clash of titans needed a soundtrack. Thus was born a music festival called Zaire ’74, promoted alongside the fight in Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo).

Godfather of Soul James Brown would headline the three-day music show. Also on the bill were B.B. King, Celia Cruz with the Fania All-Stars, Bill Withers, Big Black, Miriam Makeba, TPOK Jazz, L’Orchestre Afrisa, The Spinners, The Crusaders, and Sister Sledge. (Funny, no one asked Screamin’ Jay Hawkins to sing “Feast of the Mau Mau” for the Congolese audience)

The Rumble was the subject of the 1996 documentary When We Were Kings. Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, who was an editor on that film, took leftover footage of the music festival to make a music documentary, only recently released, called Soul Power, now showing at CCA Cinematheque.

For the record, sports fans, Muhammad Ali, who makes several appearances throughout this film, won the boxing match and regained the heavyweight title, beating future electric-grill hawker George Foreman — who is never shown and is rarely mentioned in the documentary.

The fight had to be delayed for six weeks because Foreman got injured during training. But the music festival, for various reasons, including the bands’ scheduling conflicts, went on as planned.

Ali seemed to be everywhere the musicians were, at least before they took the stage. At one point, he seems jealous of all the attention the singers are getting, making it clear in the interview that he, not these musicians, is openly challenging the white power structure.

“I have to lead the way,” he says. “God has made me bigger than all entertainers in America. God has made me bigger than all entertainers in the world.”

During his time onstage, James Brown gives Ali a run for his money. Sporting a thick ’70s-style mustache, Brown lives up to the announcer’s promise that he would “make your liver quiver” and “your bladder splatter.” The man was such an influence on African musicians, and his performance in Zaire was as significant as it was sizzling.

But Mr. Dynamite isn’t the only powerhouse who took the stage in Zaire. Cruz basically steals the show with her All-Stars, which included bandleader and flute man Johnny Pacheco and Ray Barretto, who played the conga in the Congo. You know Cruz is going to be great onstage, because early in the film you see her jamming with members of her band on the jet on the way to Africa.

Withers, one of the most underrated soul stars of the early ’70s, plays acoustic guitar on a little-known tune called “Hope She’ll Be Happier.” Makeba does a song that brought her fame in this country in the ’60s, “Qongqothwane” — which “the colonists” call “the Click Song,” she says — in her native Xhosa language.

Perhaps the most touching scene is when B.B. King is coming off the stage and expressing doubts about his performance. In the movie we see a perfectly good version of “The Thrill Is Gone.” But B.B. just wasn’t sure. “I hope it didn’t sound too bad,” he says backstage. “I enjoyed parts of it.” Maybe he felt awkward being on the same bill with soul stars like Brown.

Maybe there were lingering nightmares about his tour with fellow Mississippian Sam Cooke back in the early ’60s, in which he was heckled by some of Cooke’s younger fans, who considered King’s music to be too old-fashioned and gutbucket.

One of the best musical performances is by an unnamed African group with two singers playing a slow, soulful tune on a traffic island in downtown Kinshasa. The guitarist happily picks away at a battered electric instrument. A decade later, African guitar music would find a huge audience in this country. It seems ridiculous — maybe a little, well, imperialistic — that nobody bothers to tell us who these talented folks are.

Soul Power has a few ironic moments. In some of Ali’s rants, he holds Zaire up as an example of a happy and free society. He’s talking about a land run by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, described by The New York Times as “a corrupt and brutal strongman with a touch of theatrical flair and unusual fashion sense.”

The film is not without its flaws. About half the movie is taken up with behind-the-scenes kvetching about all the problems involved— economic, logistical, physical, political — in putting on a show this big. I’m not sure why, but this has become an obligatory part of just about every music-festival movie since Woodstock.

Maybe it’s an ego thing in which the money men and guys with the clipboards get their little moment of stardom. Or maybe the festival producers use this as a way to scold the audience, as if to say, “We worked hard to bring you this. You’d better appreciate it.”

Well, thank you very much. It indeed was a fine show, but as a music fan I’d much rather this time be filled with performances from that fine show — or at least some fun backstage shenanigans — than with a bunch of sweaty guys building a stage and a group of self-important clowns barking orders on walkie-talkies.

In a press release for the movie, Levy-Hinte said his original intention was to create a set of concert DVDs from the hours of footage from the show. I hope he follows through.

Soul Power opens Friday, Sept. 4, at CCA Cinematheque, 1050 Old Pecos Trail, 982<2011>1338. Tickets are $9, with discounts for seniors and students.

A STAR-CROSSED TOUR

James Lowe of The Electric talks in the Lance Monthly about what went wrong with the big Electric Prunes/Sky Saxon/Love tour this summer. Saxon's death was only part of it!

By the way Lance monthly is put out by Dick Stewart, whose Lance Records was responsible for lots of garage, surf, psychedelic and Chicano rock in New Mexico in the 1960s, including "I Wanna Come Back from the World of LSD" by the Fi Fi Four Plus 2. There's lots of cool stuff in the Lance Monthly.

LAST OF THE RED HOT MAMAS

The great Sophie Tucker has sparked an interesting online debate.

It started in a New York Times review by Jody Rosen of a new Sophie box set that included this bit about Tucker's Vaudeville roots:

The bumptious, oversexed woman Tucker portrays in these songs has roots in the broad caricatures of blackface minstrelsy. Tucker knew that material well: she began her career as a “coon shouter,” slathering on burnt cork to sing songs full of watermelon chomping and other racist grotesqueries. The “Origins of the Red Hot Mama” CD package includes a rare photo from about 1907 of Tucker in blackface, on one bended knee, arms outstretched — a pose not unlike the one Jolson struck when performing his blackface anthem, “My Mammy.”

This prompted Sady Doyle to write a response in Salon.com headlined "Can a feminist hero do blackface?":

At first, her bossiness and appetite may have been acceptable because they promoted a stereotype: a big, sassy, sexual black woman was easy to laugh at. As Tucker became more powerful she began to present these qualities, not as attributes of a character, but as attributes of Sophie Tucker. And that, without letting Tucker off the hook, makes her worthy of lasting consideration.

This prompted Rosen to come back in a piece in Slate that concluded

It is crudely ahistorical to condemn—or to speak of "letting off the hook"—an individual singer for performing racial burlesque in 1908. Blackface minstrelsy was the pre-eminent form of entertainment in the United States for most of the 19th-century and remained wildly popular for at least the first few decades of the 20th. ... A growing scholarly literature has shown that minstrelsy was complex—a show business institution and a socio-cultural phenomenon far bigger and more complicated than any one practitioner. Yes, blackface comedy was racist and appalling, and people should never stop saying so. It is also a key to cracking the code of American culture.

(I wrote about "coon songs" a few years ago when I stumbled across some of them on the Free Music archive. That column is HERE )

Both writers agree that Tucker was an important figure in American music. Says Doyle,

Tucker, who started performing in the 1900s and continued until her 1966 death, prefigured the shift in gender roles that marked the 20th century. ... She was big, and proud of her weight; she aged, and flaunted her aging; she was unabashedly funny, carnal, and in control. In an age of pop starlets whose sexuality is Photoshopped and endlessly audience-tested, Tucker's brashness isn't just a history lesson, but a relief.

Whatever you think, Sophie Tucker was indeed a red hot mama!

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, August 30, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Fuego by Los Peyotes
Burn the Flames by Roky Erikson
Burn it Down by The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker
Cab it Up by The Fall
Push Up Man by The Fleshtones
Fairy Stories by The Black Lips
Love is All Around by Husker Du

The Rooster by The A-Bones
Daddy You Lied to Me by The Del Moroccos
Big Booty Woman by Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears
Daddy Rolling Stone by Andre Williams & The Eldorados
Guess You Wouldn't Know Nothing 'bout That by Wiley & The Checkmates
Do the Wurst by King Salami & The Cumberland 3
Natural Man by The Dirtbombs
Certainly All by Eddie Jones
Rockabilly Madman by Screaming Lord Sutch
Cone of Light by The Almighty Defenders

The Body of an American by The Pogues
Division Street by The Polkaholics
Get Naked by The Fuzztones
A House is Not a Motel by Marshmallow Overcoat
Tell Tale Tit by The Roulettes
Samson & Delilah by Edison Rocket Train
Dead End Street by The Monsters
Golden Shower of Hits (Jerks on 45) by The Circle Jerks

Electric Sweat by Mooney Suzuki
Bonyeard (Dick Tracy Theme) by The Blasters
Release the Bats by Birthday Party
Let Loose the Kracken by The Bald Guys
Sick Twist by The Neckbones
Red Head Walking by Beat Happening
Seething Psychosexual Conflict Blues by Figures of Light
Don't Fuck Around With Love by The Blenders
The Bug Jar by The Sadies
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

IT'S HERE! PODCAST 13: LABOR DAY BBQ

It's Labor Day season, time to honor the working men and women in this great land. And in particular, let's honor one particular type of worker: the barbecue cook.

This podcast features songs of labor, song of BBQ, plus a few side dishes in between. Artists here include The Waco Brothers, Jimmy Reed, the late great James Luther Dickinson, The Del-Lords The A-Bones, Los Peyotes, The Fuzztones, Mojo Nixon and many more. So come on down to the BBQ.

CLICK HERE to download the podcast. (To save it, right click on the link and select "Save Target As.")

Or better yet, stop messing around and CLICK HERE to subscribe to my podcasts and HERE to directly subscribe on iTunes.

You can play it on the little feedplayer below:



ALso please take a gander at the (New Improved!) Big Enchilada Web Site with my podcast jukebox and all the shows is HERE.

Here's the play list:

(Background Music: Solidarity Forever by Joe Glaser)

Plenty Tuff and Union Made by The Waco Brothers

Big Boss Man by Jimmy Reed

Dark as a Dungeon by The Maddox Brothers & Rose

Workin' Man by Hank Williams III

Working Man by Bo Diddley

Red Neck, Blue Collar by James Luther Dickinson

How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live? by The Del-Lords

(Background Music: Work Song by Five to One Odds)

Mojo Workout by King Salami & The Cumberland 3

Fuego by Los Peyotes

Geraldine by The A-Bones

Baby Doll by The Del Moroccos

Headlock on My Johnson by The Fuzztones

(Background Music: Struttin' With Some Barbecue by Louis Armstrong & The Hot 5)

B.B.Q. U.S.A. by Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper

Texas Overture by Pere Ubu

Goin' on Down to the BBQ by Drywall

(Background Music: Cook Yer Enchiladas by Stephen W. Terrell)

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, August 28, 2009
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
101.1 FM
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia by Merle Haggard
LSD Made a Wreck of Me by T. Tex Edwards & Out on Parole
Red Necks, White Socks & Blue Ribbon Beer by Johnny Russell
I've Got a Lot of Living to Do by Cornell Hurd
Over the Cliff by John Langford
Workin' For the Devil by Deano Waco & The Meat Purveyors
End of the Road by Jerry J. Nixon
Aw the Humanity by Rev. Horton Heat
Don't Break My Heart by Tne Del Moroccos
Mennonite Surf Party by Rev. Billy C. Wirtz

Throwin' Away My Money by Wayne Hancock
Drugstore Truck Driving Man by Jason & The Scorchers
Bedevilment by Heavy Trash
Black Slacks by The Hormonauts
Bar-BQ Bob by DM Bob & Country Jem
Blue Railroad Train by The Delmore Brothers
Midnight Train by Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'n' Roll Trio
I Feel So Good by Scott H. Biram
Hog Wild Too by PeeWee King
Bully of the Town by Joe Maphis

Hot Dog by Buck Owens
Cougar Mama by Quarter Mile Combo
Suits Are Pickin' Up the Bill by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Swingin' From Your Crystal Chandeliers by The Austin Lounge Lizards
Sulpher to Sugarcane by Elvis Costello
Clementine by Ethyl & The Regulars
Invitation to the Blues by Roger Miller

Wind Washed Water by Aimee Hoyt
Holy Roller by Young Edward
Keep it Your Pants by The Misery Jackals
I Love You a Thousand Ways by Lefty Frizzel
Can't You See I'm Soulful by Eleni Mandell
The Selfishness of Man by Buddy & Julie Miller
The Long Way Home by Hot Club of Cowtown
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

TERRELL'S TUNEUP: SHAKE THEM A-BONES

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 28, 2009

Longtime — and I mean real longtime — Rolling Stones fans will immediately recognize the cover of the A-Bones’ new album. It’s a spoof of the cover of the Stones’ 1965 LP The Rolling Stones, Now!

This wasn’t considered one of the Stones’ major albums. There was only one hit to speak of and a minor one at that — “Heart of Stone.” Now! mostly consists of old R & B, blues, and first-generation rock tunes — Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” Bo Diddley’s “Mona (I Need You, Baby)” Howlin’ Wolf’s “Little Red Rooster,” and Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me.” It was before the Stones started writing anthems or socially significant statements, before they were considered “artists,” before they assumed the mantle of the World’s Greatest Rock Band — when they simply played great rock ’n’ roll.

The A-Bones aren’t one of those neo-Stones bands, like the Chesterfield Kings, and they don’t sound much like Mick and the lads. But on their new record, The A-Bones, Not Now!, they capture some of the spirit of that early album and share the Stones’ love for greasy old blues and R & B. In fact, you could argue that the Bones go for greasier, nastier, and definitely more obscure source material than the Stones did.

A little bit about this band: the A-Bones are a project of singer Billy Miller and drummer/singer Miriam Linna, a couple whose other major project is Norton Records, a label specializing in the raw, the primitive. and the all-around bitchen — whether it’s old Flamin’ Groovies obscurities, vast Charlie Feathers or Hasil Adkins collections, tributes to Sam the Sham, or albums of little-known R & B shouters. Though the A-Bones have appeared backing other artists on various Norton records, Not Now! is their first album in more than a dozen years. Fortunately, they’ve kept their basic sound.

Aided by Lars Espensen on tenor sax, Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan on guitar and piano, Bruce Bennett on guitar, and a bassist known as Marcus the Carcass, the A-Bones sound like those anonymous bands playing at sinister nightclubs or hopped-up youth dance parties in black-and-white teen exploitation movies. A little dangerous, a little sleazy, but ultimately inviting because they’re so much fun.

The album starts out with a tune called “Geraldine,” which begins with loud ominous voodoo drums and screaming ape calls. Espensen blows some seductive sax riffs and the song settles into a Diddleyesque groove as Miller begins singing.

Not Now! never lets up. There are some frantic instrumentals like “Restless” and “Catnip” and funny Coasters-like romps such as “He Sure Could Hypnotize” and “Jupiter Bulldog.” Linna, who wails like a hillbilly cheerleader in heat, shines on rockers like “The Lover’s Curse” and “Bad Times.”

One of the standouts on this album is a tune that sounds a little bit like folk rock — or at least as close to folk rock as the A-Bones are ever going to get. “Shallow Grave,” written by Andy Shernoff of the Dictators, is about serial killer Charles “Smitty” Schmid, dubbed “the Pied Piper of Tucson” and known for his ability to attract teenage girls. Miller sounds surprisingly tender here, especially for a song that has a line like “one foot stickin’ from a shallow grave in Tucson.”
I know it can’t be easy running a record company, but I hope Miller and Linna don’t take another 15 years to produce the next A-Bones album.

Also recommended:

* Blue Black Hair by The Del Moroccos. This Chicago group can certainly help keep the party going. The Del Moroccos are a little more polished than the A-Bones, and frontwoman Gabrielle Sutton doesn’t sing with quite the same menace as Miriam or Billy. But they’ve got the right idea — rockabilly guitar, honking sax, etc. They sound hungry and horny and they’re lots of fun.

I suspect this group is a hundred times better in person. But that’s not knocking the album. There’s plenty here to love. The band saves the best for the first, a spicy little rocker called “Baby Doll.” It’s the type of tune that the Detroit Cobras do so well. Sutton, come to think of it, has a voice similar to that of the Cobras’ Rachel Nagy.

Most of the songs are obscurities or originals. There are also covers of some recognizable classics like Ronnie Dawson’s “Action Packed” and Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind.” Though that last one has been done by lots of takers, this version has something of an Angelo Badalamenti vibe. In fact, the slow, reverb-heavy guitar that starts off the song will make the ears of Twin Peaks fans perk up. But even cooler is “El Tren de La Costa,” which has the same melody as “Train Kept a Rollin’ ” but is sung in Spanish.