Dale Watson
IF YOU’RE NOT HERE
SLEAZY RECORDS
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The country king of the trucking
anthem is never afraid to explore
other musical horizons and on this
outing Mr Watson flips between
styles as you flip the disc. Side A
features If You’re Not There, a
heartfelt honky-tonk that drips with
sincerity while giving corniness a
wide berth. Over on the flipside is
where the real treasure lies as
Brylcreem & Vaseline is a raw
rockabilly belter with Dale and Dave
Gonzalez from The Paladins trading
some wild guitar licks. Essential
listening for everyone who is both a
bit country and a bit rock’n’roll.The Texabilly Rockets /
Corporate Image
FTM V THE PREACHER
FTM RECORDS
This split single sees two choice cuts
battle it out for dancefloor
supremacy. DJ Simon Preacher kicks
things off with Gonna Get Myself A
Woman, a menacing growler from
the Portuguese rockers The Texabilly
Rockets. Squaring up to the
Preacher is vinyl spinner Flattop
Mark Phillips who opts for a 1966
nugget Not Fade Away by Corporate
Image. Having two left feet I feel
inexperienced to truly declare a
winning crowd-pleaser but The
Texabilly Rockets surely push
through with a technical knockout.
Tasteless
THE BAD TASTE! EP
TASTELESS RECORDS
When members of the bands
Torment, The Zipheads, The
Moonshine Stalkers and Dick
Dynamite And The Doppelgängers
get together this is what it sounds
like. Four tracks on bitter black vinyl
with the psychobilly supergroup
looking back to the earliest days of
the UK neo-rockabilly boom for
inspiration and knocking out a
quartet of seemingly effortless
classics. With this much quality on
offer in their debut, and only 250
copies available, hopefully they can
all be held together in one place for
long enough to record an album.
Marcel Bontempi &
Carlos Slap
YOUNG SOULS & YELLOW EYES
EL TORO RECORDS
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Mr Bontempi’s ability to create truly
original tracks is almost as powerful
as his prodigious work ethic. This is
his third single release of 2019 and
he teams up with well-respected
Spanish bass player Carlos Slap on
two new songs. Young Souls is a
full-on film noir tale squeezed into
just over three minutes. On the
other side, Yellow Eyes is a road
ballad soaked in slide guitar that is
as haunting as it is brief. If Bonnie &
Clyde were still around then this is
surely what they would be listening
to today.The Wildtones
PRETTY BOY
ROCKIN’ RECORDS
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This single is probably the most fun
you can have with your clothes on.
It features two hard-hitting juvenile
delinquent rock’n’roll pounders on
bold blue vinyl and housed in a 3D
die-cut sleeve. No need to dig
around for the appropriate red and
blue glasses either as a pair is
included with the release along
with a download code for both
tracks. Canadian label Rockin’
Records really produce some very
collectable items but this is the
finest so far and limited to only 299
copies for all you canny vinyl
hounds out there.Messer Chups
TWIN PEAKS TWIST
GITARACULA RECORDS
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Messer Chups continue to release
highly collectable records that put
the bank accounts of their devotees
under extreme pressure. This
creation comes in limited numbers
of black or white vinyl and nestling
in a gatefold sleeve. The lead track
is an echo-soaked re-imagining of
the cult TV series theme that kicks
into action after a pondering intro.
The remaining trio of tracks take
reverb to a weird new dimension,
plunging fans into a twanging
nirvana while leaving others cast
adrift on an island populated solely
by the surfin’ dead.The Deltas
BOOGIE TRAIN
MIGRAINE RECORDS
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The Deltas are back after their 2015
album Good Times. This new
five-track EP looks fantastic and
appears on yellow and black
splatter transparent vinyl. These
newly-penned tracks were all
recorded in Memphis at the
legendary Sun Studios which
perfectly suits their brand of
stripped-down, blues-soaked
rockabilly. R&B siren Sister Suzie
joins the band on backing vocals
topping off the whole package
nicely on possibly Migraine Records’
only 10" release and undeniably a
future collector’s item.Diamond Daddios
VAUXHALL-A-GO-GO
TRATER RECORDS
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British rock’n’rollers should prepare
themselves for a new anthem as
the Diamond Daddios pay tribute to
a prime chunk of four-wheel UK
automotive engineering on the title
track of this four-track EP. Featuring
‘Diamond’ Dave Prince and Dragan
Zac Zdravkovic, these veterans of
the rockin’ scene have created a
lively set of originals in the small
window in between their many
other musical commitments. Tightly
packed with three memorable vocal
tracks and a spooky instrumental,
this 7" will effortlessly flash you
back to a world of Teds and 2i’s.Singles & EP Reviews