Saturday 20 December 2008

Jack Rabbit Slim - From The Waist Down (Western Star Records)


Track listing: Rock-A-Cha / Petrolhead / Bikini Bull Ridin' Baby / Wolf Call / Wild Cavewoman / Rest Assured / Let Me Home Baby / The Tease / Blues Caravan / Generous Lover / Daddy's Got A Gun / Helldorado / Trailer Queen / Justine.

For their last album Jack Rabbit Slim came up with the name Sleazabilly was more than just the album title, it described their sound. If Betti Page was in a hard rockin' band, this is what it would sound like. This is their third release on the wonderful Western Star label, their line-up consisting of Bob Butfoy, Darren Lince, Landon Filer and Paul Saunders. Butfoy again wrote most of the songs, having a hand in all but two of the fourteen songs. Rock-A-Cha and Petrolhead set the scene for a feast of 21st Century rockabilly. The low-down Bikini Bull Ridin' Baby is a rollocking number with a country edge. There's a Buddy Holly I'm Lookin' For Someone To Love beat to Rest Assured. Let Me Home Baby isn't so much a nod to the Johnny Burnette Trio as a handshake with some back-slapping from the spare hand. I really enjoyed the call-and-response rocker Generous Lover and the instrumental Helldorado.

Elvis' Girl Happy movie fodder Wolf Call is miles better than the King's effort. If he'd have done it like this, Rusty Wells would have got out of Fort Lauderdale a lot sooner. Don and Terry's Justine owes a lot to Shaky and the Sunsets and is a great closer. So, another quality item from one of the top bands around. I love the title (playing on the Elvis television restrictions of the 50's) and the cover is a great 1950's b-movie interpretation.

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