HorrorPops - Hell Yeah! (2004)

Somewhere In the shadowy world that twists between the Misfits and the Cramps, lie the undisputed tyrants of Danish psychobilly, the HorrorPops. Fronted by upright bassist/vocalist Patricia Day, the sextet have absorbed a heady mix of '50s rock & roll and late-70s punk, and given birth to a debut that's genuinely fun. The leadoff track, "Julia," utilizes the steady lurch of the Clash's "London Calling" to set the stage for a record that, while positively rank with influences, somehow manages to rise above them and achieve a singular voice, and that voice belongs to Day, a statuesque, subterranean Betty Boop, with a set of pipes that alternately comfort and destroy. With her cat-like growl and thick-slapped bass, she burns through standout tracks like "Ghouls" and "Psychobitches Outta Hell" with an abandon that recalls the feline energy of early B-52's. As a group, the HorrorPops sound like a small army, and like the Misfits, they fill each chorus with wordless melodies and unison replies, much like Walk Among Us' "Astro-Zombies" and "I Turned Into a Martian." The dark, "daddy-o" romp, "Kool Flattop," is better than anything the Cramps have done in the last ten years, and even the obligatory surf-instrumental, "Horrorbeach," transcends the banality of the billion or so revivalists who have nearly beaten the genre out of existence. By adopting such a devil-may-care attitude to a style that nearly invented the phrase, they have avoided the forced reverence of previous imitators, and brought back the simple, sexy enthusiasm that made rockabilly so forward thinking in the first place. It's this kind of execution, attitude, and middle-finger-with-a-grin approachability that makes the HorrorPops a band to watch out for.