The Hillbilly Moon Explosion "Damn Right Honey!"

 

The band's name caught my eye while scanning across the newest releases listed on my favorite website.  Actually, there were two names that did so, and I recall adding them to the "investigate" list but I don't believe I got any further than that.  Lo and behold, about three days later, both arrive in a file from BKP.  Damn, are we on the same wavelength or what?  Anyhoo, where I "investigate," he just "buys."  Had them now for over three months and let's start with The Hillbilly Moon Explosion...

I'll use the umbrella term of "rockabilly" to place a genre on them but this record is much more than that.  Jump jive, swing, reggae, spaghetti western, shuffle, mountain music, etc., with horns and some cool, subtle keys alongside the traditional instrumentation.  The opening track had me thinking Colin James & The Little Big Band.  Follow that with a Blondie "The Tide Is High"-type tune.  There's Elvis, there's Orbison....



My God, there's one that harks of k. d. lang & the Reclines' "Angel With a Lariat."  Dave Edmunds could have a beef with a song called "I Hear You Knockin'." Hell, this one made me think of the B-52's...



The shock of all shocks was discovering their home base.  I'll give you three guesses......nope.......uh uh..........wwrrrooonnnggg........  Zurich, Switzerland!  Who knew there was a rockabilly scene thriving in Europe?  Reading about the two guest vocalists on the album, I kept getting the feeling I should be embarrassed not knowing who they were.  The two gentlemen in the band are actually English.  The guitarist's favorite slingers are Bill Nelson, Adrian Belew and Steve Howe (and he's in a rockabilly band?!).  The bassist favors Tennessee whiskey and Steve Earle.  The chanteuse lists vocal influences as Patsy Cline, Julie London and Billie Holiday with favourite bands being Motorhead and Bon Scott-era AC/DC (WHAT?). 

All I can tell you is I like it.  Twelve tracks clock in at 37 minutes, exactly what one should expect.  Can't seem to find it physically in the US, but it's a $9 download. 

The two descriptors I found repeated on my notes?  Neat and fun...