Speedball Baby

The psychotic sounds of these scummy NYC blues rockers have never been so diverse and filmic as they are on the epic The Blackout. These cats and kittens are no new jacks to the studio, or the world's stages, and their great playing and the hot, yet sweet, production found here is the proof. The record gets off to a great start with the fever dream sounds of "3/4 Man," with its perfect mix of twang and swirling, distorted organ. The album soon revs up to a full-on R&B, garage-a-billy rage on the awesome title dance number "Do the Blackout." There is a lot of full on country flavour here too, as with the sick and twisted "Diddler" and "Baretta's My Handle," the latter basically being about a guy being tortured into confessing by the cops over some super sweet guitar pickin'. I wish this was a soundtrack for a movie, because I'm sure it'd be a kick-ass one. It should also be noted that The Blackout features guest appearances by such big shots as Jon Spencer, Judah Bauer, Mick Collins and James Chance.