Psychobilly by numbers!
The kings of psychobilly return after a career that has now spanned over twenty years, and forty records, with their new album, 'Hymns For The Hellbound'. Led by lead singer and guitarist P Paul Fenech, (who released a solo album last year entitled, 'The F Word'), and Wolfgang Hordemann on drums and Simon Linden on bass, The Meteors originally started out as a reaction against the more gentler rockabilly that was still grasping on to the coat tails of rock'n'roll for the love of God.
From the outset you get vintage Meteors, with the spooky spoken word on the intro to 'Powder Pain And Misery', which then kicks into classic psychobilly with thick basslines, and twanging guitars, as P Paul Fenech's rasping voices grooves out. The tempo quickens even more with, 'My Slaughtering Ways' as the lyrics kick in with, "I won't ever stop! // Never fucking ever stop, till you put me down! // Well it's my mission to cleanse this world! // And put you fuckers under the ground!"
If you are a fan of The Meteors then this is an album of exactly what you will love. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, and you won't find too many surprises here. 'The Phantom Rider' is about a highway man, and along with Mr Fenech's cockney accent could well be what Adam & The Ants would sound like if they were to give psychobilly a stab. 'Endless Sleep' is a slow rock'n'roll number, whereas 'We Wanna Wreck Here' is more of a jiving shuffle. 'The Queen Of The Wild Wild' is in the same vein with the familiar heavy reverb of the guitar and the chugging bass, it has a touch of the Wild West, which of course is what you would expect from a song surrounding that subject.
Psychobilly is a whole concept, and like other genres, it seems to spill out into more things than just the music, probably more than any other genre. So even a mid-tempo song like, 'Shadow Time' has a more eerie feel to it with the morbid words, even before the vocals have a devil's echo halfway through. It is also not surprising that The Meteors have appeared on many high-budget B-Movie horror films, and with the black clothing, the horror film imagery and the Vince Ray influenced album cover this is the whole package.
'You Want It' is a catchy song that could well have made it as a hard rock song sung by Alice Cooper, but of course with the added psychobilly twist. The album finishes with the hard rocking, 'Paradise Lost' and then a hidden song that could well have been a Motorhead song. I'm not sure what it's called but I would christen it, 'I'm A Roadie' as this appears to be one of the most common lines. It's a great, catchy song sung with the deep whisky soaked vocals, and probably deserves a noted place on the album.
The Meteors aren't where they are today by changing the successful formula that has seen them be able to last as long as they have, so this is an album for the fans. It will not set the world on fire, but that's okay. These guys are too long in the tooth, and mature to know that they will not be appearing on Top Of The Pops, and smashing into the Top Ten any time soon, but who cares, right? I guess I could be critical and suggest that a few of the songs are a little bit samey, and so the album is best described as good, as opposed to great. This band created psychobilly, and this is classic, psychobilly by numbers. Job done.