Switzerland is a compact, cozy and relatively neutral country. Multilingual Helvetians leisurely mold their leaky cheese and rivet their precise watches. And in the case of a spiritual impulse, they climb to the top and blow their sonorous pipes-alpenhorns. Even their civil war happened back in the middle of the 19th century, claiming the lives of less than a hundred soldiers, after which the Swiss agreed to expel the Jesuits from the country, after which they quietly went home to rivet cheese and make watches. However, the mountain air and the dollhouses in the alpine meadows often caused vague anxiety in strangers.
The literary Victor Frankenstein was born in Switzerland, the literary professor Moriarty is buried, Stavrogin from “Demons” became Swiss citizen. Apparently, something is floating in the atmosphere of the most imposing corner of Europe, if in 1998 a gang appeared in Zurich, playing, conditionally, rockabilly, but in fact a cocktail of all related genres. In addition to the influence of rock and roll classics, the music of this band, which took the name Hillbilly Moon Explosion, also has the influence of later bands such as American Blondie or Belgian Vaya Con Dios, and HME vocalist Manuela Hutter fits perfectly into this series of small women with a “big” voice.
Following in the footsteps of Debbie Harry and Dani Klein, she does not limit herself to the conventions of one style, as evidenced by duet albums with French singer/actress/director Arielle Dombal and the main ghoul of the English psychobilly scene Mark “Sparky” Phillips. But Manuela is only half the battle, since the co-founder of the band, double bassist Oliver Baroni, acts on an equal footing with her as the second main singer. Current guitarist Duncan James and drummer Sylvain Petit joined the band somewhat later. The new album 2024, called Back In Time, includes eleven of Hutter and Baroni’s own songs and one borrowed. Fill your cheeks with Swiss chocolate, and we’ll start listening!
Sometimes Late At Night is a parked action movie in the spirit of the aforementioned Blondie, steeped in anxiety and surf guitar vignettes. Many Hillbilly Moon fans were puzzled by such a move, although it is quite logical for a band that released a single with its version of Call Me ten years ago.
Summerlove is a relaxed and, at first glance, lightweight piece, whose charm is revealed with each new listening. The meowing strings take you on a night walk around Zurich, and the gentle melody would adorn any classic Audrey Hepburn movie. Not to mention the subtle devilry lurking in his voice and making his subconscious itch.
Knocked Down is a swinging and bouncing number with a cheerful melancholy. It evokes the early The Madness and “Ubangi Stomp” performed by The Stray Cats, although it sounds much more elegant than the latter. In the background, that Mourner from the Mexican legend, Emanuela howls eerily, leaving the bass player to solo. Perhaps the same howl was accompanied by the fall of Conan Doyle’s villain into the Reichenbach Falls.
1979 already directly indicates which era the musicians drew inspiration from this time, if it was not clear to someone from the first songs. Brisk power pop hails from the 1970s with a bass guitar that justifiably replaced the double bass.
I Live In My Head is reminiscent of either Iggy Pop, tired of the “narzan”, or the Davis brothers on fast and Furious. Different clever people call such songs fillers, or more simply fillers.
Sudden Ring is a must-have Hillbilly Moon Explosion ballad in the spirit of an uncompromising western with a pompous guitar and another brutal howl. Scary. Nicely. It’s beautiful and scary.
Jet Fuel Rock’n’roll is a rockabilly blues shuffle with the fattest, but not to the point of nausea, very precise groove and cynical almost recitative by Oliver. It is from such songs that the lower limbs begin to twitch.
Let’s Go (Back In Time) – menacing rock, flavored with disaster-bearing keys. This time travel will not be a pleasure trip with Doc and Marty, it will be one of the episodes of The Twilight Zone. The title track of the album was one of the best.
Nothing Takes The Place Of You, a song by Louisiana singer and organist Toussaint McCall, released in 1967, was a soulful song that Emanuela Hutter could have turned into another musical message from the other world, but instead Oliver Baroni undertook to perform it, exactly repeating the stupid reggae rehash of Prince Buster. It’s a really stupid thing.
In Always Just You, Emanuela’s voice is supported by a muted guitar and the ephemeral clicking of the double bass, bringing back memories of Elvis’ Tryin’ To Get To You and Crawfish.
Death By My Side is a berry from the same field as the band’s long-standing hit My Love For Evermore, except that now instead of Sparky’s cracked growl, Oliver’s hooligan melodic proclamation. For another band, this composition would have been a success, for Hillbilly Moon Explosion, however, it looks more like a self-repetition.
Reno is a delightful country song wrapped in the ghostly haze of Loretta Lynn’s early recordings. An absolute gem, although too subtle to conquer the charts.
In the end, calling the new Swiss record unconditionally good is hindered by two strange appendages, weights dangling from the legs of a bird named Hillbilly Moon Explosion, flying through time. But this work cannot be called a failure either, most of the songs are sound, and some are even beautiful. Let’s hope that the next album by the inhabitants of Zurich will be free of today’s mistakes and demonstrate the best that they are loved for throughout the rockabilly world. Zurük in der Zeit, the Moon Dogs!
