Who are the Piccabilly Bullfrogs? The name may not be familiar to you, but the musicians are: Peter Davenport, Danny Brittain and Tim Purkess, all of Stargazers fame. But most of all, the Piccadilly Bullfrogs are nothing less than one of the most exciting rockabilly combo to appear in years, yes sir! Two guitars, one double bass and tons of talent. Their debut album features 12 tracks, eight originals and four covers. It’s been entirely recorded in single takes with no overdub, in glorious mono on an old tape machine with a "ridiculously cheap and nasty microphone (...) and the end results are at the very lowest end of the lo-fi spectrum!". So you’ve been warned, if you expect slick production that comes from a multi tracks studio and lots of overdubs this album is not for you. But if you dig music that breathes life, with raw edges that takes you back to the glorious days of Sun or Meteor, jump on this one. The instrumentation is almost entirely acoustic with just what I suppose to be a small amp for the electric guitar. While I listened to this little jewel I couldn’t help but think about Pat Cupp when he talked about his 50’s recordings: “That's easy, you see back then, we were doing acoustic music. There were no mics on the drum, no amp for the bass, no loud PA system. The guitar amp was pushing 5 watts. The volume was kept low and we got a real acoustic sound with that thumping bass and rhythm guitar.” That’s exactly what the Piccadilly Bullfrogs are: pure and unadulterated rockabilly. The songs are varied and very well crafted too, from Cutthroat Joe (that sounds like Carl Perkins, Marty Robbins and the Three Penny Opera all rolled into one) to the skiffle tinged sound of Ride, Ride, Ride and lots of boppin’ in between, including a tribute to the famous Ace Café in the form of a boogie (The Ace Boogie). No need to say that with each of them having 30 years of experience the musicianship is top notch too. Davenport plays inventive solos one after one and delivers a fine instrumental too (Sunshine Hop), and Brittain and Purkess provide the beat. Forget the rest, take the best, the Piccadilly Biullfrogs are here.

Fred "Virgil" Turgis