Quiffs and double basses at the ready for an evening of psychobilly and garage punk!
It’s been a while since I enjoyed an evening of quality psychobilly, so cheers to Shake Some Acton for organising exactly that! Two bona fide UK legends of the genre, plus great openers, in central London, for only twelve quid? You betcha.
It’s impossible to take your eyes off the heavily tattooed (and nearly naked) vocalist of Haunted Men; he’ll be haunting our dreams, for sure. His band play mostly covers, but do a damn good job of it; our personal favourite being a vitriolic rendition of the Henchmen classic ‘Get Off My Back’. The place is only about half full, but they play with all the confidence of a headline band, and the cheers and applause are the least they deserve.
Leadfoot Tea is quite the contrast, but no less enjoyable for it. A one-man show on guitar, vocals and kick drum/tambourine, his sound is steeped in vintage American garage rock and blues – surprising when you consider that he’s actually Swedish! For sure, though, he’s got the songs, and the likes of ‘Underpants Hop’ and ‘Grease And Oil’ can’t fail to get us tapping our toes, shaking our bodies and generally grinning like village idiots. Great stuff.
There are finally some serious stirrings down the front for The Hyperjax’s set, and so there should be. The Lancashire trio have a great song called ‘Happy Pills’ – which tonight is accompanied by an all-female wrecking pit – but are they sure they didn’t take amphetamines by mistake? We only ask because their set is utterly relentless; the psychobilly equivalent of a runaway train, no less, and it’s a joy to watch them rip through the opening ‘Scars On The Horizon’ and ‘Spider On The Wall’ as if it’s the last gig they’ll ever play.
Once again, band and crowd feed off each other’s energy throughout, and vocalist/guitarist Sam Woods is clearly thrilled at the growing chaos as he rips into yet another squealing solo. This is psychobilly par excellence, and by the time they close with ‘Talkin’ New York City’, the bar has been well and truly raised.
That said, in terms of who’s having the most fun tonight, The Long Tall Texans vocalist/bassist Mark Carew surely takes the gold. He’s been leading the Texans for roughly four decades now, but the huge smile on his face is one of a man who’s obviously very much in his element playing live; retirement is a long while away yet. The Hyperjax have laid down a stiff challenge to his band, but the Brighton trio have more than enough psychobilly gold in their canon to hold their own.
The highlights come thick and fast. A turbocharged romp through ‘Girlfriend’ keeps the energy levels high; the ska-flavoured ‘Border Radio’ draws even more folks onto an increasingly crowded dance floor, and there’s a genuine party atmosphere in the place as we all sing along to ‘Sex & Beer & Psychobilly’ (the necessities of life, don’t you know?). Great tunes played with passion and no end of roguish charm; that’s The Long Tall Texans way, and it’s a recipe that still draws crowds after all these years. Oh, and a sense of humour – how else to explain the chuckle-worthy closer ‘What Part Of Fuck Off Don’t You Understand’?
Truth be told, I’m not exactly an authority on psychobilly, but tonight, I leave the Water Rats wondering why I’d ever want to listen to any other genre again – and isn’t that the hallmark of a great gig? Cheers to Shake Some Acton for having us – check out the links below for details of future SSA gigs.
All Photos: ALEX GOOSE
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