A guide to Psychobilly in 25 songs
“One-half hillbilly and one-half punk.” That’s how The Cramps, widely regarded as the godparents of psychobilly, defined the genre in their 1980 track ‘Garbageman’. Such definitions come in handy when trying to pin down what has to be one of the most multifaceted and genuinely anarchical genres to emerge post-’77.
The Meteors were there from the very beginning. Unveiling their debut LP at the tail end of 1981, the group helped establish the sound, look and feel of what became the biggest subculture of the decade. Indeed, few bands boast a purer psychobilly sound than The Meteors, whose music — an amphetamine-driven blend of rockabilly, country and classic R&B — bought the spirit of early rock ‘n’ roll back into focus.
Loud, proud and dangerous to watch in a small setting (Meteor fans were known for a dance move known as “wrecking”), Psychobilly was to punk what punk was to classic rock: an attack on pomposity and posturing. “People got tired of the pseudo intellectualisation and overblown pomposity of the way rock was going,” Alec Palao of “trash” band The Stingrays told The Guardian.
“Punk rock neutralised that nicely, but then, sadly, a lot of those artists started going down the same pompous road as the people they were railing against,” “That was the basis of trash: music for people who felt Magazine and Joy Division had got everything wrong.”
Almost all of the bands who defined the trash, rockabilly and psychobilly scenes had been raised on a mixed diet of punk rock and rock ‘n’ roll from the ’50s and early ’60s. It’s strange, then, that rockabilly and psychobilly fans were so opposed to one another. Eventually, the neo-rockabilly and psychobilly bands found a safe haven in west London’s The Klub Foot, which allowed the scene to flourish.
Over the next year or so, psychobilly music became increasingly distinct, with bands decked out in Hammer Horror makeup and anti-gravity hair playing a supercharged take on rockabilly. Lyrics were at once modern and unashamedly retro in their adoration of vampires, zombies and Kensington gore.
When it came to the music, it was a case of anything goes: “Overdriven guitars and full rock drum kits, big quiffs, weird and wild clothing, makeup and props – blood and skeletons welcome,” Mark Harmen of Restless said of Psychobilly. “It should be fast and loud, exciting and fun.” There you have it, Psychobilly distilled to its purest elements: joy, weirdness and noise.
A guide to Psychobilly in 25 songs:
- ‘American Nightmare’ – Misfits
- ‘Garbageman’ – The Cramps
- ‘In Heaven’ – The Meteors
- ‘Teenagers from Outer Space’ – The Meteors
- ‘Pretty Baby’ – The Milkshakes
- ‘Down at the Swamp’ – Restless
- ‘Dinosaurs’ – The Stingrays
- ‘Don’t Break Down’ – The Stingrays
- ‘Destination Zulu Land’ – King Kurt
- ‘My Dream’ – Torment
- ‘Cyclops Criminal’ – Torment
- ‘Ride this Torpedo’ – Tall Boys
- ‘King Rat’ – Guana Bat
- ‘Sir Psycho’ – The Sharks
- ‘I See Red’ – Frenzy
- ‘Psycho for Your Love’ – The Meteors
- ‘Transylvanian Express – Batmobile
- ‘Transvesitite Blues’ – Demented Are Go
- ‘The Bug of Planet Zee’ – Krew Men
- ‘Loan Shark’ – Guana Batz
- ‘Paranoid’ – The Meteors
- ‘Too Drunk to Fuck’ – The Klingonz
- ‘You Better Run’ – Godless Wicked Creeps
- ‘Human Fly’ – The Cramps
- ‘Fool’s Gold’ – Restless
