Well–done audacity and a thirst for experimentation are initially a very important component of rockabilly music. Excessive conservatism will never give us a new Gene Vincent. How about adding a pinch of rhythm and blues to neo-rockabilly and a good pack of fun punk provocation? Today, once again, I want to share a small musical gem of my collection, especially since the record recently turned exactly ten years old.
All of the above components were mixed by the team with the obscene name The Boners, and most likely shaken up on their second and final full-length album. The last activity of these deceased merry men dates back to 2019. As far as I can tell, the problem that struck the “Boners” was not age-related erection problems, but a much more common problem in small towns: the inability to keep like-minded people in the grip of common sense and a small homeland. Hailing from the small town of Hinckley, Leicestershire, which is, of course, in Britain, the four dashing guys managed to release only two records. The first of them, the band’s namesake, was released in 2010. It consisted of only seven tracks, some of which appear in other versions on the next album. The second layer, which I want to talk about today, was released in 2015 on the German label Rhythm Bomb Records. It was a much more mature and diverse job. Sometimes it’s even too diverse.
On Hell Yeah, the listener is hooked by flirtations with rhythm and blues and boogie, including the use of the harmonica, an instrument that we would like to hear more in our context. And of course, the general, let’s say, subgenre. The Boners belong to my much-loved kind of peasant rockabilly without snot, with a rocking pressure that defies censorship. And this is exactly rockabilly, without wrapping up in punk and saika, but modern and fierce. I felt about the same way at the concerts of The late Stockmen, also in the mid-fifties.
Opens the album Baby Talks in Tongues. The song is about baby talk with an archetypically cool guitar riff and the infectious laugh of Spike, the band’s frontman.
Babyshaker immediately throws us into a wave of boogie, reminiscent of the Texas ZZ beards. The aforementioned harmonica from Spike appears here. And I also want to mention Mike’s rollicking drumming: the very balance where there are not too many drums for rockabilly, but also not too few for music where there is still a percussive setting. It resembles the work of drummer Eli Reinek from Hard Fall Hearts.
The next track is Muchacha! He tells an entertaining story about how a sultry Mexican beauty rushed to get cigars for the evening. This funny narration is the main thrill of the song: it’s an everyday story!
The next song is also very vital. “Choose! Either your car or me!” – this is the sadness that befell the lyrical hero of My Baby Don’t Like My Car. In addition to such a life, there is a pleasant bridge in the song and a good guitar solo.
Lockdown is a familiar word to all of us, although it has already been forgotten. But, at the time of the record’s release, it was still a good five years away. So Lockdown is about a more metaphorical coming out of hiding. Or about a more mundane evacuation from the blue pit. Both options are true, when the harmonica plays along fervently in the song, the bridge summons drunken devils, who are hammered back to the next world by a powerful drum break.
Hotel with No Name is already entering the territory of more mystical tales, but still unbridled. Remember, friends! Casual relationships can lead to the loss of your wallet, watch, and soul! There’s nothing wrong with the first two, but you can’t just get your soul back. That’s exactly what this cheeky country song is about.
Well, it’s time for real hits! I played the next couple of songs on repeat almost as many times as one rockabilly player drinks a bottle of hot water in a year. Driving is the quintessence of stories about sad rides against a background of mental anguish. Hot roadster paradise is just around the corner. A beautiful chorus will pave the way to it, and the combination of the epithets “Iconic, Ironic” perfectly characterizes the entire record.
The next song is about happy love. No broken hearts! Only the happiness of the subcultural union to the grave! Sometimes there are not enough lively, life-affirming songs like Rockabilly Girl. Or is it just a wet fantasy that came to a lonely pomaded head? Not the point. It’s about “I want to believe!” and I wish the same to everyone involved.
And again the separation. However, this time the object of love is a shiny chrome chariot that was stolen by some dead man. After all, the one who steals your favorite car is definitely a dead man! Dead Man Driving is the same measured narrative as the nameless hotel, which settles in the memory mainly because of the curious story.
Walk to the Light, starting with an alarming double bass slap, specifically enters the territory of the paranormal in this way. What if you get stuck in your car in a deserted wooded area? And who is that scratching on the roof of the car? It’s creepy! However, it might still be worth it. “Go into the Light” is the most interesting track on the album, from a compositional point of view. Well, the main melody on the guitar with accents on the cymbals sounds amazing here.
Oh, those train songs! Rockabilly is stupid with this bait! This is almost the literal chorus of The Train Song. This ironic cry of the soul reminds me of the composition of my favorite BZfOS “Stop Writing Songs About Your Girlfriend”, which I mentioned earlier in 5 modern cycobilly albums for neophytes.
7th Day Disturbers is probably the most powerful song on the album. I honestly don’t understand why she closes the album. It would be much better to put it at the very beginning. The gospel music reference here is simply gorgeous.
After all, Billy’s music had its own style in the last decade. This style spread through tattoo parlors, craft bars and other barbershops. Yes, those rockabilly images on the Internet, with clogged sleeves and tunnels in their ears. Who would have thought that rockabilly would become popular again. And by rockabilly they meant something like this album: bold, brazen, slightly obscene and very high-quality. I would venture to suggest that it was a kind of new wave that crashed against the breakwater of the ordinary. Tattooed heroes from a decade ago are now selling and buying their favorite craft beer in regular bottles. And it’s hard to imagine what the new iteration of rockabilly will look like. Well, there will definitely be some. This music always comes back.
I downloaded it, in fact, for the sake of My Baby Don’t Like My Car – and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a very cool song for nerds like me, with technical details and the only correct conclusion – I was frankly pleased.
And The Train Song definitely became a pleasant surprise – I didn’t expect such a fun thing at all. As a bonus, it reminded me of the Metal Apocalypse series about the blues.