Stray Cats - 40

  by Kimberly Bright

published: 4 / 7 / 2019

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Rockabilly pioneers the Stray Cats return with new material to celebrate their 40th anniversary '40', the first Stray Cats album in twenty-six years, celebrates the band's fortieth anniversary, despite them not being an active entity for most of that time. The founding line-up of Brian Setzer, stand-up acoustic bass legend Slim Jim Phantom, and Lee Rocker recorded '40 in Nashville live in one room. As Phantom explained, “We were all in a row with everyone watching each other, so it felt like a gig in the set-up. We really embraced that a little bit for the album. It’s like an old way of making records. The modern is meeting the vintage, which has always our inspiration.” The band relocated from Long Island, New York to the UK in 1980 after seeing a musician sporting a pompadour on the cover of 'NME'. When they returned to the US, MTV watchers mistook them for a British band at first, taken by Setzer's own blonde pompadour and his skinny tattooed arms somewhat dwarfed by his Gretsch 6120, replaced now by a shockingly expensive Brian Setzer signature model. The rockabilly revival has ebbed and flowed since the 1970s in North America but has had a continuous stranglehold in Europe and Japan - which is born out by the band’s touring schedule this year. Setzer sounds fantastic, one could argue better than he did on their debut, both with a more mature voice and exponentially smoother guitar skills. Unlike some of their early rockabilly contemporaries the Stray Cats’ sound has aged quite well. '40' sounds like classic evergreen Stray Cats, thank God, with a dozen originals that are definitely preferable to a covers album of the usual Gene Vincent, Elvis, Duane Eddy, and Eddie Cochran chestnuts. The new songs cover the usual themes of womanizing, cars, being broke, and rock and roll, all delivered with high energy. They do sound like they're enjoying themselves, especially on the shuffling 'That's Messed Up', 'Cat Fight (Over a Dog Like Me)', and 'Mean Pickin' Mama'. The leering 'Attract Trouble' has a fun Ventures-like surf guitar interlude, and the instrumental 'Desperado' sounds like the Shadows going full spaghetti western soundtrack. Since reunion albums can often be tricky and awkward, it's a relief to discover that the chemistry among such deceptively simple elements in this trio still functions beautifully after four decades.

Track Listing:-

1 Cat Fight (Over A Dog Like Me)
2 Rock It Off
3 I've Got Love If You Want It
4 Cry Danger
5 I Attract Trouble
6 Three Time's A Charm
7 That's Messed Up
8 When Nothing's Going Right
9 Desperado
10 Mean Pickin' Mama
11 I'll Be Looking Out For You
12 Devil Train

Band Links:-

http://straycats.com/home/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Stray-Cats-15761
https://twitter.com/thestraycats

Label Links:-

http://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mascotlabelgroup
https://twitter.com/MLG_Rocks
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDim5iiX_g1Q4He1N-o-avg
https://instagram.com/mascotlabelgroup/

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