Hawaiian Pistoleros
Something Strange
Self Produced
You don’t normally associate Hawaii with cows, but they do have a bunch of them running around and planning to producing little burgers someday. And if you have cows, you must have cowboys, or maybe even cowpersons, out there roping and riding and generally keeping the cows safe and healthy. And even in the days of of instant telecommunication, there’s time to sit around the campfire and let the cruel uncaring world pass away. That gets us to this pleasant musical collection of quirky tunes and hard riding lyrics.
We open Something Strange with “Crazy Shaky Dizzy World.” It’s a rockabilly workout that has a lot going for it: a rocking beat, a kick-butt backup, and some wild lyrics that telegraph the message “I want to party with these guys.” And you will, too. It’s that steel guitar that punches every one home. If that track was missing, it still rocks, but its WAY better with that steel git fiddle. “Out of Tune” mixes a happy bouncy 1940s dance number salted by a one-sided break up. Our singer has lost a woman like a country guy ought to, and he cheerfully sings “My heart says adios,” but you know it’s an unhappy breakup. Still, the melody makes you dance with your date and seal the deal that she will be there in the morning, hung over but ready to have another go.
We now slow it down with the barely pronounceable “Honaunau Napoopoo.” It’s something about walking barefoot in the sand with images right off a travel poster. Here again, the guitar is strong in the this one. We soon find out this, too, is a breakup ballad with palm trees and scenery. The palm trees do not assuage the pain, but there is an active volcano handy, just in case.
The Hawaiian Pistoleros leave us with a cover of “Mistery Train.” They even give us a cool little cowboy “whoop” near the end of the track. The band sings about the joys of the island life, but their roots are buried deep in West Virginia coal mining land. Is this album worth your hard-earned cowrie shells? I think so, unless you have an aversion to roots-rocking happy times.
Aloha, baby. I’ll catch you back on the mainland!
