Mack Stevens & the Texas Infidels – Kill! Kill! Kill!

Mack Stevens & the Texas Infidels – Kill! Kill! Kill!
Hog Maw Records HM906

Side A: Jasper Town, Let's See You Cheat On Me Again, B-T-K, Perfect Stranger, Skin 'Em Lee. Side B: They'll Call It Murder, Fistful Of Knuckles, The Killin' Dozens, Let Me Drive You Home Dear, The Man Who Could Not Die

The mad man of rockabilly is back. Not that he particularly went away, but his latest is so good, it’s a return to the classy albums he had out on Rollin’ Rock a few years ago. Hog Maw Records are to be commended for this excellent album, in glorious blood red vinyl.

As the title suggests, this latest release is all about death and violence – psychobilly, country style. What I love is that the lyrics are all mean and desperate, but done to an upbeat tune, totally at odds with the words. He’s basically taken a canvas of pink and splashed all over it in black, and in the process has created a masterpiece.

The opener, Jasper Town is a mix of rockabilly, hillbilly and r’n’b done to the backbeat of Rollin’ and Tumblin’ and sets the scene for half an hour of mayhem. Skin 'Em Lee is death and butchery to the sound of a New Orleans party! B-T-K reminds me a bit of the Ray Campi Rollin’ Rock sound – the touch of Ronnie Weiser obviously looms large in the mind of Mack. Fistful Of Knuckles features a wonderful combination of violence and beautifully melodic rockabilly guitar.

The Killin’ Dozens is hot rockin’ blues and I loved the weird Let Me Drive You Home Dear, a rocker with a nice acoustic feel, enhanced by some fine honky tonk piano. The pick of the album for me are the two rockin’ hillbilly numbers Let's See You Cheat On Me Again and The Man Who Could Not Die. The former tells of the wayward nightlife of “stealin’ cars and titty bars” while the latter is a bitter tale of revenge, “I know it’s hard to draw a breath when your ribs are caving in, but girls let’s see you try to cheat on me again”. You can’t beat a good ol’ love song!

I love this album. It’s great to have him back at the top of his game. Mad Mack is Back.