Sick City Daggers
Live Fast…Die Pscyho
Hairball 8
There’s not a whole lot you can say about a psychobilly record. It’s just a matter of Is it good, or not? These sorts of bands – the speed-racing upright bass plucking, the lyrics about death and zombies, the fast punk rock guitar riffs, the scream/sing vocals – seem to have been bursting out of the walls over the last decade or so. They all begin to sound the same after awhile, unless they’re good enough to grab your ear and hold it.
San Antonio, Texas’ Sick City Daggers are tight enough to do just that. Rather than being one channel, they veer all over the aggressive musical spectrum, pulling points from The Stray Cats, The Misfits, Motorhead and Tiger Army in equal measure. You can hear the influence of Glenn Danzig in Jake Snakeburns’ vocals on songs like “Evil Dead” (one damn perfect song, I might point out). It’s this smooth, but gravelly, tone in Snakesburns’ voice (combined with the greaser rock harmonies behind him) that really take this band out of the cemetery of horror punk and onto the stage of being a good band.
Other mosh-worthy songs: “Through the Darkness” and “Straight Outta Hell.” And for those who wanna dance, “Devil Girl.”
Hairball 8: http://www.hairball8.com
