Lee Rocker, "Racin' the Devil" (Alligator, 2006)
I can't admit to being much of a Stray Cats fan during the band's heyday. That's not their fault. During the '80s, I summarily rejected just about any "new" music. (I'll avoid getting myself into trouble with '80s-music fans by stopping right there.)
But upon further review, the trio's rockabilly revival sounds pretty darned good, especially the signature "Stray Cat Strut." After all, it's built on one of my favorite chord progressions. And Brian Setzer plays a mean Gretsch.
The guitarist since has gone on to acclaim with his Brian Setzer Orchestra, leaving the other two Cats, bassist Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom, to embark on a series of their own projects.
The latest by Rocker (aka Leon Drucker) is an album called "Racin' With the Devil," released on the well-regarded blues-roots label Alligator. His quartet also includes guitarists Brophy Dale and Buzz Campbell, and drummer Jimmy Sage.
The disc seems to pick up right where the Stray Cats left off with regard to style, sound and attitude. Vince Ray's illustration on the album cover evokes the "bad boy" image rockabilly had in the '50s. (The art includes such dainty images as a burning plane about to wreck, bottles of whiskey and pills, a hot rod into a tree with a cigarette-smoking "Girl from Hell" perched on the fender, and a skeletal Lee jamming on a double bass emblazoned with a "Route 666" sticker!)
"Girl from Hell" is the name of the opening track, which blazes out of the box with a very heavy bottom driving some heavy minor-chord guitar riffs. The lead playing is fluid without being flashy, helping to convey the foreboding atmosphere of the song's subject matter.
Lee's band covers the Stray Cats hit "Rock This Town," recasting it in a minor key. Fans of the old version might not particularly go for the new take, but it works quite effectively in a dark, menacing mode, with lines like "rock this town, rip this place apart" seeming to take on quite a literal meaning compared with the upbeat original.
Many of the album's other tracks lean toward the country side of rockabilly, at times sounding much like the best of what Sun Records had to offer in its heyday (Elvis included). Or perhaps Chess Records; "Rockin' Harder," for example, features a tremendous Chuck Berry-type guitar break in the midst of a jam that fully suits the song's title.
"Funny Car Graveyard" returns to the heavy, minor-key sound of the album's first two tracks, before the proceedings close with "Swing This," an instrumental in which each of the musicians has ample opportunity to show off his prowess.
I wouldn't say that "Racin' the Devil" contains much of what you'd call innovative, save perhaps the re-engineering of "Rock That Town." But these guys know how to play, and they sound like they're having a great time doing it.
I can't admit to being much of a Stray Cats fan during the band's heyday. That's not their fault. During the '80s, I summarily rejected just about any "new" music. (I'll avoid getting myself into trouble with '80s-music fans by stopping right there.)
But upon further review, the trio's rockabilly revival sounds pretty darned good, especially the signature "Stray Cat Strut." After all, it's built on one of my favorite chord progressions. And Brian Setzer plays a mean Gretsch.
The guitarist since has gone on to acclaim with his Brian Setzer Orchestra, leaving the other two Cats, bassist Lee Rocker and drummer Slim Jim Phantom, to embark on a series of their own projects.
The latest by Rocker (aka Leon Drucker) is an album called "Racin' With the Devil," released on the well-regarded blues-roots label Alligator. His quartet also includes guitarists Brophy Dale and Buzz Campbell, and drummer Jimmy Sage.
The disc seems to pick up right where the Stray Cats left off with regard to style, sound and attitude. Vince Ray's illustration on the album cover evokes the "bad boy" image rockabilly had in the '50s. (The art includes such dainty images as a burning plane about to wreck, bottles of whiskey and pills, a hot rod into a tree with a cigarette-smoking "Girl from Hell" perched on the fender, and a skeletal Lee jamming on a double bass emblazoned with a "Route 666" sticker!)
"Girl from Hell" is the name of the opening track, which blazes out of the box with a very heavy bottom driving some heavy minor-chord guitar riffs. The lead playing is fluid without being flashy, helping to convey the foreboding atmosphere of the song's subject matter.
Lee's band covers the Stray Cats hit "Rock This Town," recasting it in a minor key. Fans of the old version might not particularly go for the new take, but it works quite effectively in a dark, menacing mode, with lines like "rock this town, rip this place apart" seeming to take on quite a literal meaning compared with the upbeat original.
Many of the album's other tracks lean toward the country side of rockabilly, at times sounding much like the best of what Sun Records had to offer in its heyday (Elvis included). Or perhaps Chess Records; "Rockin' Harder," for example, features a tremendous Chuck Berry-type guitar break in the midst of a jam that fully suits the song's title.
"Funny Car Graveyard" returns to the heavy, minor-key sound of the album's first two tracks, before the proceedings close with "Swing This," an instrumental in which each of the musicians has ample opportunity to show off his prowess.
I wouldn't say that "Racin' the Devil" contains much of what you'd call innovative, save perhaps the re-engineering of "Rock That Town." But these guys know how to play, and they sound like they're having a great time doing it.
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