Ain't Rocket Science 101 & 202 Wild Hare Records WH06001- WH06004 Vol.1 : 1 Scotch Whisky 2 Gypsy Eyes 3 Minnesota Snow 4 Through With You 5 Red Lipstick on Cigarettes 6 Big Wheels Roll 7 Dear Old Dad 8 Crazy About Nancy 9 Doorbell Dreamboat 10 Buried Hopes 11 Cool It 12 Blue So Blue 13 Lovesick 14 I Want You 15 Its All Life 16 Live This Way 17 Tell Me Darlin 18 Honey Honey 19 Wined and Dined and Pocket Lined 20 Mrs Jackson 21 Why Cant You Be True 22 24 Hours a Day 23 So Untrue 24 Cant Keep My MInd Off Of You 25 Just Take Me Home 26 Feels So Good 27 Catch My Breath Vol. 2 : 1.We’re Gonna Rock 2 Devil Doll 3 Let Me Be Your Baby 4 Let's Rock 5 Give a Little Lovin' 6 Have a Ball 7 Uptown 8 I'm Gonna Break a Heart 9 Epilepsy Betsy 10 What I've Got 11 Trouble Follows Me 12 Lonesome Trail 13 Hitch Hiker 14 Long Haul Trucker 15 Last Work In Lovin' 16 Real Live Doll 17 Operation Complication 18 Slim Jim Sadie 19 Break Loose 20 Jambalaya 21 A Single Tear 22 My Puddin' Pie 23 Loud Mouth 24 Midnight Train 25 My Love 26 I'd Want Your LOvin' Anyway 27 Don't Talk Back If you are turtle, don’t try to catch this Wild Hare cause he’s running fast and .he ‘s got a double mission : “to help promote historic artists as well as promising new artists involved in the Rockabilly and Hillbilly Circuit”. Since Dave and Kiersten Moore founded in 2003 this label “of Rockabillies for Rockabillies”, they recorded historic talent such as Pat Cupp, Roc LaRue Ron Berry and Joe Penny, both present on this two “Ain’t Rocket Science” first class compilations but also new talents such as The Garnet Hearts, Thommy Burns,Jason Hoss Hicks, Amber Lee, Jerry King, Screamin' Scotty and many more. As announced by the owners of the label “no big city attitutes or corporate schemes here”, no “rocket science” “no tracking, no overdubs” but for sure some good ol homebrew rockabilly chemistry concocted by an ever-present Dave Moore (engineer, guitarist and member of the The Saddle Pals) The 101 is a blend of smooth honky tonkin’ rockabilly sounds (The Saddle Pals) with some raw hillbilly songs as the ones composed by the 20’s and 30’s inspired Thommy Burns hepcat There ‘s even some Sun soundin’ with the veteran Ron Berry (listen to “It’s All Life” that could come right from the fifties Union Avenue studio) and the Steubenville Knight Jason Hicks “close to the Sun Elvis bone” melodic rockabilly On 102 the starting mood is more on the rockin’ and rollin’ side with the terrific Amber Lee. That gal sure knows how to rock.! Jerry King and his assured strong voice that we already know with his Rivertown Ramblers is here with The Falls City Boys on a more hillbilly repertoire and sounds like an american Jack Baymoore. The legendary Hank Williams sideman Joe Penny sincere and true rockabilly is tremendous; “Real Live DollI” is a “real live masterpiece” and his Jambalaya rendition sounds like a real early fifties Cajun one popped up from the past. Screamin’ Scotty ends up brilliantly and frenetically this second compilation with a great “Don’t Talk Back” rocker. One sole conclusion : Can’t wait for the third one! Dave “Long Tall” Phisel         Rock Around The EEC Vol.1 Empire Records. EMP-CD-103 Hometown Gamblers : What you Think About that? - SpoDee-O-Dee : My Baby’s Gone - Hick-O-Rhytm : Red Wine & Reefer - Lil’Ester & The Tin stars : Drugstore R’n’R - Ronnie Nightingale & The Haydocks : Long blonde Hair - Hot Rhytm & Booze : Don On the Farm Boogie - Fireball Steven & The Halebops : Rock,Pretty Mama - Eyeballin’ Torpedos : Devil On my Trail - Jumpcats : Hoppin’And Boppin’ - Daryl Haywood Combo : If you Want To Be My Baby - Atomic Boogie Band : Boogie After Midnight - Firebirds : All by Myself - Sabrejets : Redneck Blues - Alley Kings : Friday Night Rumble - Anabel & The Rock-A-Bells : I Try - Diana & The Atomics : Whistle Bait - Aces Wild : Wild ,Wild Women - Rioters : Feel The Rhythm - Slapbacks : Will I Love Again - Blue Jeans : Hot Rockabilly Stuff - Mad Men : Mean Little Mama - Mystery Gang Trio:Wiggle Baby - Marco Di Maggo : Neck On Fire - Pete Anderson & The Archives : Look Out Heart - Jumpin wheels : Hot Rod Mama - Convertibles : Cripple Rock - Go!Daddy O’ : Hotel Blues - Komety : Tak Mi Zie - Lucky Cupids : Strangers In the Night - Antonello Persiano : Blue Suede Shoes Marc Fenech with his magazine “Southern and Rockin” made much for the construction of an “international of the rockabilly” before the development of Internet and site such as myspace. By reading it I thus could discover in the Nineties that the future of the rockabilly at that time would come from the Scandinavian countries and that there was an embryonic scene behind the iron curtain. After having ceased its activity in, here is the return of the Fenech guy with a new grinding of his magazine which should be published very soon then with a participation on this 30 european groups compilation named “Rock’n’Roll Around the EEC» on Empire Records , the first European label. You will find there an outline of the active european scene with bands from different styles (from fifties rockabilly to teddy boy sound, jumpin and jivin’ and even psychobilly) from many different countries like Germany (Spo-Dee-O-Dee) Holland ( Lil’ Esther & the Tin Stars, Ronnie Nightingale & The Haydocks) United Kingdom (the Firebirds, Sabrejets) Italy ( Marco Di Maggio), France ( Hot, Rhythm & Booze), Finland (Daryl Haywood Combo, Atomic Boogie Band), Slovenia (Lucky Cupids), Croatia (Mad Men), the Czech Republic (Go!Daddy O’) Estonia (Jumpin wheels) and even Pete Anderson & The Archives from Latvia, the pioneer of rockabilly in the whole former USSR and also the first ever “50’s rock’n’ roll style” recording released in the island of Malta! When you’ll have finished listening to that first (but not last) sample of the European scene you’ll surely come to the conclusion that Europe is not only a economical construction but also (above all?) a “rockabilly connection”. Dave “Long Tall” Phisel         Rockabilly Showdown Vol.1 Golly Gee & Humtone Records GGR1046/HUMT1000 Chadd Thomas & The Crazy Kings : Hush Hush - Rip Carson: Cause Of It All - Rusty And The Dragstrip Trio : The Creature - Eddie Clendening : Be Good Or Be Gone - Rockin Ryan The Real Gonners : Beat That Love Out - The Reno Brothers : Make Love To Me - The Mezcal Brothers : Next Town - Hot Rod Lincoln : Turn The Jukebox Up - Buck Jones : Georgia Shaker - Ralph Rebel : Rockabilly Vampire - Matt Hole And The Hot Rod Gang : Rockabilly Vampire - The Rumblejetts : Big Bouffant - Jerry King & The Rivertown Ramblers : Used To Be - The Spinouts : Bad Ass - The Tremors : Lovin On My Mind - Rusty And The Dragstrip Trio : Cry Over You - Eddie Clendening : Don’t Make Me Wait - Hot Rod Lincoln : Cattin’ Around - The Rumblejetts : That Will Be All From You - Billy And The Bullets : Sitting On The Outside - Rockin Ryan And The Real Gonners : Gettin Lowdown On You - Jerry King & The Rivertown Ramblers : I Miss The Ring - Peter And The Wolves : Another Heartache - The Reno Brothers : Cruisin The USA - Buck Jones : Chicka Boo Stomp - The Mezcal Brothers : Be My Bad Girl - The Regal Line : 51 Merc 27 tunes from 18 bands, this is what Spinout and Rockabilly Monthly magazine offer here. “A little bit for everyone” could have been another name for this compilation album as it covers the whole spectrum of today’s rockabilly. The first song “Hush Hush” performed by Chadd Thomas is a great 50’s sounding rockabilly with train effects provided by the slap bass and the drums, and Chadd’s deep voice is excellent. This tune alone should convince you to buy the album. Rip Carson’s song is fine with a good Burlison-style guitar. Rusty And The Dragstrip Trio (from Australia) is one of the great band I didn’t know, and man they rock ! Good band with a singer who reminds me of the late Darren Lee Spears. “The Creature” is a solid rockabilly in a Charlie Feathers style and it will delight all the b-movies fans. “Cry Over You” is even better and leaves me wanting for more. Rockin’ Ryan needs no introduction to rockabilly fans, but just in case, you’ll find two songs here from two different albums. The Reno Brothers are more in a modern country sound with a voice and a guitar you could compare to Dale Watson. To be honest this is not the kind of stuff I would listen all day long, but they add a good variety to this comp. The Mezcal Brothers are a wild modern rockabilly band, not that original, but very pleasant. Hot Rod Lincoln provides two solid neo-rockabilly tunes, with bright guitar and good snare drums. «Cattin’ Around» sounds like the best songs of the British combo “The Nitros”. This song comes from the album «Blue Café» which was produced by Lee Rocker.. It’s good, and fresh, to find bands that still play in that style. Buck Jones from Finland is a powerful combo with electric bass. Their songs wouldn’t be out of place on a Mike Ness solo album (especially Chick a Boo Stomp). “Rockabilly Vampire” by Ralph Rebel adds a welcome psychobilly touch to this album. Too bad he just has one song. If you dig The Reverend Horton Heat sub-pop period, bet you’re gonna like Matt Hole. The song is good, but is much too long (5 1/2 minutes) and could have been cut to be more effective. Hailing from Kansas City, The Rumblejetts delivers a very good neo-rockabilly with some British inspiration, think about bands like Restless. The other great discovery for me on this record was Jerry King & The Rivertown Ramblers. They perform two great songs (recorded at Sun), a classic rockabilly with hiccups and the beautiful slow number probably my fave track on this record) “I miss the Ring”, the kind of song that would have made Sam Phillips proud. “Sitting on the Outside” is a fine instrumental by Billy & The Bullets, with bluesy licks à la Dave Gonzales and good stop/start effects. A very good album to hear well-confirmed artists and to discover new ones before buying the albums. Very highly recommended. Fred "Virgil" Turgis         Lake Rattle & Roll Vol 1 Blue lake records BLR CD06 Noisy Boys - Don''t Be Runnin'' Wild, King Louie Combo - Sixty Minute Man, Earl & The Overtones - Heartless Woman, Mars Attacks - High School Caesar, Phil Trigwell - Night Time, Nero Schwarz & The Black Noir - Hot Sake, Rhythm 55 - Mystery Night Instrumental, Rockin'' Piano Jerry - That Lucky Old Sun, Waun-a-bees - Can''t Stop Me, Kick''em Jenny - Stressed Up, Johnny Loda - Lonesome Tears In My Eyes, Dixie Bop - Seven Noghts To Rock, Little Boy Arnold - If You Don''t Know, Cal Degal - Pink & Black, Hot Rhythm & Booze - I Don''t Want To Loose Her, Matthieu Bore & Suzy Blackstone - I Need Your Love Tonight, John Guster - Ain''t That A Dilly, Ray Gibson & The Flattop Cats – Mara, Jerry & The Rockets - Shadow My Baby, Fred & Franky - You''re Gonna Miss Me, Reptiles - I Still Have The Will To Rock ''n'' Roll, Starliters - Rock ''n'' Roll Fever, Waun-a-bees – Satisfied, Thunder Jets - A Little More Wise, Kick''em Jenny - Raw Deal. One of the best thing to come from Switzerland along with the chocolate and the clocks (ah sweet world of clichés) is the Blue Lake Records label. Since 1993 Juan Rodriguez label owner has recorded many bands and singers in his high quality and authentic sounding studio. This compilation album is a good example of his work with 25 songs and  23 artists. Every aspects of the rockin’ music are represented here. Classic rockabilly (Mars Attacks, with what I supposed to be an unissued song taken from the sessions of “Circle Of Love”), wild and frantic rockabilly with Kick ‘Em Jenny (something like the hidden daughter of Paul Fenech and Josie Kreuzer, simply fantastic, hope she’ll have a full album of her own soon) and even a bit of neo rockabilly with Cal Degal. But there’s more than rockabilly. The Waun-A-Bees (actually Barbara and Rachel from The Honeybees) bring some rhythm’n’blues with great vocals and a nice rendition of “Are You Satisfied?” while Little Boy Arnold and The Starliters are more on the rural side and provide some nice hillbilly bop. Add some blues (Fred & Franky) and piano here and there and you have an excellent compilation I warmly advice you to buy. Special mention must be given to the hot rhythm section made of Marcel Bashung on bass and Paul Burkhalter on drums who are present on a lot of songs. Great presentation and tons of pics on the cd-rom part. Fred "Virgil" Turgis