Nekromantix – Return of the Loving Dead – Review

Nekromantix

Return of the Loving Dead (Hellcat)
by Scott Hefflon

“Thriller” meets the Reverend Horton Heat. Some may slag graveyard-obsessed rockabilly as being campy, like “What are you, the Danzig of rockabilly or something, freak?” But those people’ll quickly get a mouthfulla knuckles’n’biker rings, so beware… One of the good things about this stuff (like I can overgeneralize the Gothabilly culture, which exists, uh, for all of a couple comps-worth of bands) is that it’s musically talented and knowledgeable as to roots-rock tradition and such. And at the same time, they mix ghoul humor in with it.

Never really got the sci-fi/surf/spy/rockabilly connection (“I’m into aliens, the undead, long instrumental breaks, pompadours, and I work on muscle cars when not drinking with my buddies or stumbling around graveyards, howling at the moon”). But early on, a song reminds me of Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” (yeah, the song at the end of The Blues Brothers), and that kinda forgives a lot of slow patches and the stench of silliness which pretty much overpowers this hunk of cheese. This trio is Danish and have a number of releases (and accolades) beneath their belts, so it’s not like they’ll be playing emopunk next year.
(2798 Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90026)