Victory Records, 2014
By Phillip Smith;
March 2, 2014
Being a long-time fan of Reverend
Horton Heat, I am thrilled to death to have a whole new batch of fast paced, fuel
guzzling rock and roll songs to embrace, in the form of their new album, REV.
I am also glad to see front man Jim
Heath and upright bassist Jimbo
Wallace joined once again by Scott Churilla
on drums, reuniting this holy trinity of modern rockabilly.
Kicking the album, REV off is a fiery instrumental called, “Victory
Lap”. Reminiscent of the kick-ass surf
guitar tracks Dick Dale is known for, it segues seamlessly into the following
song, “Smell of Gasoline”. “Smell of
Gasoline” is a contagious song about a teenage girl with a fondness for the
scent of petroleum, and is drawn to one guy in particular over all her other
suitors because of her guilty pleasure.
While on the subject of women in song, I really like “Hardscrabble Woman”
which tells the story of a pistol packing Calamity Jane type tough gal who
packs her own loads, runs around with a tough crew, and is a sure-shot with a hammer.
Hardscrabble Woman could very well be
the same gal who loves the smell of gasoline after packing on a few years. The backing harmonies on this throwback to fifties
western music, paint the song representatively in Grand Ole Opry fashion. Heath
breaks out the raunch ‘n’ roll with “Let Me Teach You How to Eat”. This fun rockabilly romp is spattered with
innuendos and double entendres, with a fistful of punk thrown in.
Reverend Horton Heat is a genius,
when it comes to setting a daunting tone.
“Spooky Boots”, about an aging lovelorn biker who been pining for the
return of a woman who left him nearly forty-five years ago, is so interesting in
how it mixes Swing with Western. In the fashion of the Munsters theme song, the good Rev brings us “Zombie Dumb”. The song features twangy surf riffs and
captivating ‘the natives are getting restless’ style drum beats from Churilla, all on top of lyrics solely
composed of the words in the title spoken in a deep haunting voice.
REV is a
true delight and a thrilling listen from beginning to end. Thanks to Don Jamieson for bringing this album to my attention via his February
8th pick of the week on VH1 Classic’s That Metal Show.
