HorrorPops - Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill

Band: HorrorPops
Album: Kiss Kiss Kill Kill
Genre: psychobilly
Label: Hellcat

Tracks:
1. Thelma and Louise
2. Missfit
3. Boot2boot
4. Heading For The Disco
5. Kiss Kiss Kill Kill
6. Everything's Everything
7. Hitchcock Starlet
8. Highway 55
9. Horror Beach part 2
10. Copenhagen Refugee
11. Keep My Picture
12. Private Hall of Shame

Psychobilly. What a hard term to define, especially in music. It's been said to be the mixing of surf rock, country, boogie woogie, jazz, and punk rock, but I don't think that does it justice. To me, rockabilly is more like the remains of throwing all those genres in a blender and adding a sprinkling of youthful refusal to die just for an extra kick. Once blended on high for about a minute, you get the Danish band, Horrorpops, who just released, "Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill," via Hellcat Records on February 5th. This is the band's 3rd full length, but with little to no radio or mainstream appeal, is it worth your time and money?

The cover of Kiss looks like a poster from a 1950's crime noir and that's just what they were going for. The art depicts front woman Patricia Day as what I could only depict to be the dashing love interest with a banner under her that reads, "Twelve Tales of Love and Murder...Starring HorrorPops," and that is basically the best way to summarize what follows. I myself was a bit of a stranger to this band, though I had seen there merchandise before and never really thought to listen in. The idea of surf rock mixed with the punk and the addition of a stand alone bass just didn't appeal to me, but I thought I'd give it a shot regardless. I mean, they've gotten three albums out there, someone must find something worth hearing. What I found was a mixed bag of filler, creepiness, and standout songs by a very energetic sounding band and vocalist. The opener, "Thelma and Louise," follows a similar female escapist theme as the picture referenced in the title. "Missfit," and, "Boot2boot," play quickly, but never really grabbed me. The fourth track, "Heading for The Disco," stood out to me as the single strongest track by the band. A quick witty tale of a girl embracing the 80's scene in a current day state and the ridiculousness of the whole thing. The band even pokes fun at current reality star/80's rocker Brett Michaels and his band, even going as far to say that, "Poison was never cool." Strong remarks towards a band that sold over 10 million albums, but honest nonetheless. After that, the band returns to their signature horror themes with, "Hitchcock Starlet," "Highway 55," and, "Horror Beach Pt.2" The album itself finishes with, "My Private Hall of Shame," a catchy ditty with a heavy walking jazz-like bass line. Patricia writes plenty of room for crowd involvement by adding a whole slew of, "La Las," throughout while telling a tale of an ex-lover and how she is ashamed of what happened. She mentions puking up her love for this person as a means of moving on. Hell truly hath no fury like a women scorned.

"Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill," is a good album with amazing production. The drums and bass give a steady one two beat while Patricia sings in the vein of 50's rock hall artists. However, the steady beat allows room for a lot of songs to run together and grow old quick. It is refreshing to see a band like HorrorPops take their music to a more cinematic theme, but in the end you feel like the depth was actually pretty shallow. The music is solid and so are the lyrics, but they fail to leave any impression past, "Hmm, this is neat."


GRADE: 5.5/10