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Aug. 28th, 2004
Hard to think how to review Vampyre-X, as they're pretty much what you'd expect from a Misfits tribute band. The selection of covers touch on most of the Misfits catchiest songs from the Danzig days, like Skulls, Last Caress, We Are 138, Night of the Living Dead and, my personal favourite, Astro Zombies, all of which were done quite well. This time i paid a bit more attention to their own songs as well, and liked best those ones that made use of the '50s rock and roll melodies that made the Misfits so good (and suits that horror theme, since the '50s really were the golden age of b-grade flicks). Bloodlust was one song i remember standing out in particular. To be honest, the singer's vocal range didn't seem quite up to some of the notes he was trying for, which could perhaps have been covered up by some clever use of harmonies, but they were great fun so who cares anyway?
Thee Psycho Delmatics were up next with some dirty rock'n'roll. They didn't seem to grab me to begin with, but after a couple of songs seemed to get better (or perhaps it was like the singer said: that they improve with more beer). They had a distinct '60s garage flavour in amongst the grungy rock, and i seemed to hear a discernable Cramps element, aside from the singer's passing resemblance to Lux Interior and a similar cover of Strychnine, which made me think at the time that the songs would really sound good with some Poison Ivy or Dick Dale style surf guitar to lift it above all the samey garage rock about at the moment. But it's their band, and i enjoyed 'em as they were.
i'd been hearing great things about Zombie Ghost Train for ages, and they managed to live up to the hyped expectations. The sound was firmly in the rockabilly camp, as expected, and for some reason kept giving me flashes of images from 'West Side Story' and 'Rebel Without a Cause', but beyond common elements of the style in general, i can't think of another band that's especially similar to use as a comparison (though my knowledge of the genre is pretty limited anyway). The best i could come up with is perhaps a mish-mash of Stray Cats, Casino Rumblers, maybe Tiger Army, as well as echoes of anything from the Dead Kennedys to the Johnnys and even to the campy humour of goth bands like Element (though that could have just been the makeup, and the singer's new PVC trousers that had to be gaffer taped to him to stay up - insert inane GAF jokes here). There was something about them that made them stand out from other rockabilly bands i've seen - aside from good songs, humour and tight playing, there just seemed to be something.. 'fresh' about them. i enjoyed the hell out of them and can see what all the fuss is about.
Now i've got to go pour some more coffee down my gullet to rehumanise enough to go see them again (12.30 down at Route 66 in Prahran, today). If you're able, i'd do likewise.
Thee Psycho Delmatics were up next with some dirty rock'n'roll. They didn't seem to grab me to begin with, but after a couple of songs seemed to get better (or perhaps it was like the singer said: that they improve with more beer). They had a distinct '60s garage flavour in amongst the grungy rock, and i seemed to hear a discernable Cramps element, aside from the singer's passing resemblance to Lux Interior and a similar cover of Strychnine, which made me think at the time that the songs would really sound good with some Poison Ivy or Dick Dale style surf guitar to lift it above all the samey garage rock about at the moment. But it's their band, and i enjoyed 'em as they were.
i'd been hearing great things about Zombie Ghost Train for ages, and they managed to live up to the hyped expectations. The sound was firmly in the rockabilly camp, as expected, and for some reason kept giving me flashes of images from 'West Side Story' and 'Rebel Without a Cause', but beyond common elements of the style in general, i can't think of another band that's especially similar to use as a comparison (though my knowledge of the genre is pretty limited anyway). The best i could come up with is perhaps a mish-mash of Stray Cats, Casino Rumblers, maybe Tiger Army, as well as echoes of anything from the Dead Kennedys to the Johnnys and even to the campy humour of goth bands like Element (though that could have just been the makeup, and the singer's new PVC trousers that had to be gaffer taped to him to stay up - insert inane GAF jokes here). There was something about them that made them stand out from other rockabilly bands i've seen - aside from good songs, humour and tight playing, there just seemed to be something.. 'fresh' about them. i enjoyed the hell out of them and can see what all the fuss is about.
Now i've got to go pour some more coffee down my gullet to rehumanise enough to go see them again (12.30 down at Route 66 in Prahran, today). If you're able, i'd do likewise.