“swingin_neckbreakers”
Swingin’ Neckbreakers
Kick Your Ass
Telstar
Kick my ass? Nay, sir, the Swingin’ Neckbreakers Kick Your Ass! How can this, the most Nordic of New Jersey psychedelic, psychotic rockabilly bands I’ve followed for nearly five years (possibly six), be even more brutal? Go see a live show… On stage they’re like three Viking clones of Captain Caveman, using their guitars as clubs to bash out primitive rock and roll with reckless abandon.
Lyrically, though, the Swingin Neckbreakers are nothing short of comic genius. The most mundane of life experiences is turned into comic high adventure. For example, “I’m the Mailman” would appear as a rockin’ blues about an average Joe delivering the mail. No way. This mailman sees his job as a crusading safari through the concrete jungle… “Daddy’s Little Girl,” while appearing as a little ditty about the problems a father has with a teenage daughter. Sort of like Mr. Cunningham grumbling about Joanie and Chachie. Think again! This old man is a psychopath, “If you lead her into temptation, it could lead to your decapitation… I could care less about your family’s wealth, you should be concerned with the state of my mental health!”
Besides the mailmen with delusions of grandeur and insane dads, there are a couple of dance tunes, “Do the Stand” and “The Flop” both suitable for bored, late 1990s teens who sit around gathering dust. And I should mention there is plenty of psycho-eroticism, exemplified on “Creation,” which roars like a hillbilly who just escaped from the Pine Barrens and needs girl action. “Pool Hoppin’,” which is about mischievous kids whose dad is too cheap to buy an air conditioner, is a classic summertime blues that KICKS YOUR ASS!
Fourteen ass-kickin’ songs in all, in this gem from Telstar. Telstar Records, P.O. Box 1123, Hoboken, NJ 07030
