Another album from America's favourite shock rock psychobillys.
LA based band Frankenstein, have been travelling the toilet circuits of the world since the late 1980s. The band have been plagued by members leaving and spent many years trying to find replacements. One previous member, the late Jim Cherry of Strung Out had also left Frankenstein on not the greatest of terms. Being one of the oldest bands in the underground scene, it is nice to see a band manage to retain their Psychobilly/ shock punk/leather blues sound for such a long time.
Their 7th studio album 'An Ugly Display of Self Preservation', offers the listener 13 tracks for their own displeasure. The band has orientated their release on that wacky Goth design you would usually associate with a cheap horror ride at the town fair. The cartoons and artwork certainly accompany the music hand in hand and proves an attractive read.
The CD begins with an extract from a horror movie relating to the album title, 'an ugly display of self preservation.' With their Halloween names and groovy style, I find it hard to take this band sincerely and see them as more of a horror punk version of the Aquabats rather than a serious, extreme-cultured band like Marilyn Manson and his crew of freaks.
So as I previously mentioned, Frankenstein make music that mashes swampy blues with the energy of those old 60's punk bands like The Sex Pistols or The Ramones. Rev Whitley Peckawood contributes a lead guitar tone, hopping between grinding blues riffs and some surprisingly unexpected solos. He even combines his solos with the vocal parts, creating unusual devices within the sound.
Although the band generate some great steady-rock, 13 tracks of grouchy vocals and four-chord songs can prove tedious. Like getting lost in a desert, this record seems to roll on and on and on. By the time you finished listening to it you will find yourself with a long wispy beard and a dressing gown wrapped around your old frail body. If the band cut the album down to 8 or 9 tracks it would certainly be more effective on their overall finishing product.
So to relate this band to anything I have heard before would be difficult. If you have ever seen the film "From Dusk until Dawn" and remember the band playing at the strip bar called 'Tito and Tarantula', add a drunken Texan version of Lemmy to the vocals and then paint the band's image with a misfits look, you have Frankenstein.
Personally I could not see this band progressing any further up the publicity ladder but then again I don't think that that is what they are interested in. They aren't a band whose lyrics can be devised into psalm readings or put on at your wedding reception. Either way the CD gives you a good idea of how good their live shows are and how entertaining they are to listen to. I will certainly be going to one of their gigs if they tour the UK.