Formed in 2012 German psychos King Moroi have managed to create some buzz.Their brand of rockin' and at times punkafied psychobilly has gained the band a solid following and strong word of mouth.Hell I was told over a year ago to watch out for these kats.That said the band's debut album "Hardly Better Than Nothing" is now out and it's one freakin' rockin' effort than aims to please.Clocking in with 11 originals and 2 covers of kool and at times hard hitting psychobilly. You could say this modern psychobilly that has the right amount of punk and rockabilly.These kats push the metal to the floor but they also know it doesn't hurt to slow it up a tad . As a result this puppy more than backs up it's bark.Highlights include: "Switchside",
" Crying Dying Man", "Spy Tank" and "Staying Bad".
King Moroi definitely live up to the buzz about them and "Hardly Better Than Nothing" is one of the better debuts this year.This is a really strong, well balanced and rockin' album you should check out.Recommended.
Earlier this year we(Shakin Katz Radio) received a package in the mail from Eastern Canada that contained a burnt cd and a message that we should check out this new kool old school psychobilly band the Rockin' Tomcats.What I heard impressed me I and wanted to know more about these guys but when I started to do some research, you could say I was totally impressed .This wasn't a new group,turns out it is a sessions band lead by Chuck De Deville that's been around for some time.
Formed in Hamburg, Germany sometime during 1990 and by 93 the band had laid down a few tracks and started playing gigs.Over the years and despite life getting in the way Chuck De Deville has kept the band's name out their, at times he has wrote and recorded songs by himself or with a line up that has changed many times. In the last couple of years things have picked up for the Rockin' Tomcats ,there has been interest in the band by a pretty big name label and the line up has become a stable 3 piece.There was also a name change to Dead Chux for about a year before settling back to the Rockin' Tomcats. Chuck has also worked with Jon Peet(Frantic Flintstones), Wyane VanSnick, Dale Williams(The Radiacs) and just recently with Paul Oxley(The Radiacs, Kreman,and EpilepticHillbillys).
As of this writing the band hasn't released an album but there is probably around 40 tracks out there as well as more new tracks coming out for your listening pleasure on You Tube,Facebook and Sound Cloud . Most of the tracks that have been laid down are old school psychobilly (done very well) , some surf/ instrumentals,rockabilly, a few acoustic numbers and some covers.
For a body of work that stretches over 20 years this consistently well written, sounds great and is surprisingly fresh, it's damn impressive.You could easily get 3 killer albums from the tracks that have been put out. There are numerous stand out tracks such as "Handle With Care", "Dead Bones","Murder Death Kill","Breakout ", "Board Ride" and the just released "Psycho Rider"(with Paul Oxley).
