7 Track 12” Vinyl Mini Album Release Date: September 2022 Bad Billy Records Recorded at Fast ‘N’ Loud Studio by Fedde Cocco Reviewed 04/02/2023 by Nick Constantine An Italian Hell-o-Billy/Psychobilly band from Sardinia
First of all, it would be rude not to introduce the band! Steve Hellbilly: vocals Renny the Mad: guitar/ backing vocals Tata Doc Fasol: double bass Matthew Baro Papperi: banjo, guitar, backing vocals Benito Pili: drums
Woo Hoo! Here we go again! I’ve really been looking forward to this from Slackers Bunch! This is their second release and follows on from their debut EP, RUN FOR LIVE. That debut was a full-on, slap-you-round-the-face, sit-up-and-listen, raw and fast and exciting and wow! record and this mini album just picks up where they left off without any letting up, so prepare your ears for another fantastic onslaught of Hell-o-billy! Slackers Bunch were born from a bonding of 4 shady characters in 2019 and since the first EP the band have taken on a new recruit, a wicked banjo playing one! This now adds a whole new dimension to their sound, giving this second release a yeehaa, hillbilly, hellbilly, psychobilly, rockabilly, cowpunk & country influence, sounding like a mash up of bands such as Demented Are Go, Mad Sin, The Brains, Guana Batz, Legendary Shack Shakers, The Waltons and Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band! This mini album has fantastic production and it sounds amazing! All tracks are original, written by the band and they tell me that they now don’t even do covers in their live shows! They are already working on the third album.
Are you ready to have a listen?
SIDE A 1 EVIL MAKE TRICKS A chilled, laid back, slap bass starts the album, then adding a grungy guitar and atmospheric, growling vocals. They’re playing this in the late night mist that’s hovering over the graveyard. A superb clicky, clacky bass throughout makes it a bluesy stroller for zombies, or Wednesday Addams’ next dance.
2 BALLAD OF MICKEY TOMBSTONE Still in the graveyard, a ramblin’ country guitar riff opens this track, giving it a Rawhide sort of feel, then joined with lively banjo pickin’, then the clicks of the slap bass sounding like a train over the tracks. A similar sort of track to My Love For Evermore from the Hillbilly Moon Explosion, but leaving Emanuela back at the station! This is like a ghostly stagecoach travelling through the mountains that ain’t gonna get held up by any outlaws!
3 ROLLERCOASTER There’s a hillbilly, pickin’ banjo start to this, reminiscent of the Dead South, which then conjures up images of rolling along, travelling through dust clouds in a horse and cart! There’s a nice use of echo on the vocals and some great time out moments with the guitar and bass!
SIDE B 4 ALL MY SINS Whoosh! Straight into a full speed ahead, fast pickin’, Motorhead Ace of Spades pace track! There’s great shout-out backing and this could become a fab mosh pit classic, especially with a couple of slow, time out bits and then ramping it up again!
5 SLACKERS BUNCH ANTHEM Again, full throttle ahead from the start with a frantic slap bass! You can’t help but at least nod your head to the beat! Maybe tap your foot? Slap your knees with both hands trying to keep up! Mental, catchy, shout out stuff in the backing, is this their theme tune? I think so! Wehahwaaah!
6 DON’T STEP ON MY SHOES A brief mellow start - then ramps it up like a Sun rockabilly track! That’s when it gets into a Hell ‘o’ Hillbilly, Psycho-hillbilly sort of sound! If you don’t know those genres, don’t worry, I just made them up to give you an idea of this track! There’s fantastic bass breaks, raw, gritty vocals and it’s all sounding like the devil dancing on the porch, slapping his knees Yee ha! Yee ho! Yee yeah!
7 JACK OF HEARTS (Saloon Reloaded Mix) This is a reworking of one of the tracks on the original EP and it was one of my favourites on that release, so let’s see what’s changed! It’s mainly the banjo! Lifting this track with another dimension added. The original track was very much raw, but totally engaging and reminiscent of Guana Batz Nightwatch with a Stray Cat Strut pace. It’s now enhanced with the addition of the banjo, giving it a plucking good backing and yee ha vibe. To me this could become a psychobilly classic if it’s given enough airplay and it definitely has a hook with the fast paced, stuttery, chorussy singalongy bit!
LOVE IT!
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