Hellbillys – Cavalcade of Perversions – Review

Hellbillys

Cavalcade of Perversions (Wingnut)
by Jon Sarre

A near decade’s worth of Old Scratchibilly rock from Northern California’s porno-psycho-horror revivalists The Hellbillys is neatly crucified on this disc. Maybe yer lookin’ for a soundtrack to yer next Halloween party, maybe ya got a certain hard-on for this band, maybe you just think pomadour (sic) tattooed cretins hell-bent on drivin’ that Cramps via Hazil Adkins via Charlie Feathers lineage Back To the Grave is just the way to go. At any rate, Hellbillys are for you. Their originals definitely light up alla that (hell)fire, even if the skeletal growlbilly of “Bucket of Blood,” “Moto-Psycho,” “Hellbilly Boogie,” etc. can get kinda silly at times. The band’s choice of covers betray a diverse record collection (The Cramps, Crime, Fear, TSOL, Elvis, Ernest Tubbs), which, if nothin’ else, root their retro shock-rock firmly in the rock’n’roll tradition. Sure, everythin’ here isn’t a gem, but after all the braincells they’ve expended over the years, over 50% ain’t nothin’ to sneeze at.
(1442A Walnut St. Suite 59 Berkeley, CA 94709)