If Thee Headcoats were the answer to the early Kinks, then Hipbone Slim and his merry cohorts (which include Headcoat Bruce Brand on drums) are the answer to the early Yardbirds. Although there’s lotsa rockabilly and country tossed in for good measure, they mine a lot of the same bluesy garage rock as the band that kick started the careers of Messrs. Clapton, Beck and Page, making sure to add both seriously good musicianship and just the right amount of punk rock attitude to give it all some edge. There is so much Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, John Lee Hooker, Hank Williams, and Carl Perkins being mined it almost feels like they could market this as a crash course in the history of rock’n’roll in one easy disc and find little argument. Good, good stuff.
–jimmy (www.voodoorhythm.com)