Denmark's Horrorpops are a band hopelessly raised on a steady diet of early rock and roll, '70s punk, '50s pulp comics, and clunky horror flick panache, producing a slick, rollicking punkabilly hybrid with a suitably morbid image to boot. One look at these cats and it's clear they weren't the popular kids in school.
These were the kids who slashed the tires on your car, beat you up in the school parking lot and stole your lunch money. Still can't get a picture? Think Jerry Lee Lewis and Joey Ramone meet the Munsters … but better.
Hell Yeah, the sextet's eagerly anticipated debut record, is a delightfully freakish melting pot of punk rock ethos and traditional rockabilly shebang, with a dash of '80s new wave kick thrown in for good measure.
Sure, such an adventurous expose in genre sampling would be difficult to pull off for many bands. But the Horrorpops mix and match styles so effortlessly it's as if they were born with stand up bass in hand and pompadours firmly in place.
At the forefront of the motley musical freak show is vocalist/bassist Patricia, a front woman so rag tag she makes Courtney Love look like Courtney Cox and adorned with enough eyeliner to make Dee Snider blush.
She's not all looks, though, as her vocal styling exhibits an impressive range, from sultrily melodic crooning in the vein of Gwen Stefani on "Drama Queen," to the coarse and raspy scream fest displayed on "Emotional Abuse." Patricia also has the good fortune of having a solid lineup behind her, including Kim Nekroman (leader of Denmark's other pride and joy, the Nekromantix) and Karsten on guitar, Neidermier on drums, and not one, but two go-go dancers to seal the deal. Here's a band that has covered all their bases.
Hell Yeah plays out like a rock record with Attention Deficit Disorder, an album marked by hyperactivity and a short attention span. This isn't criticism; however, as the Pops are at their frantic best as they jump menacingly from one genre to another with ease.
The band's influences are readily apparent from the opening track "Julia," which begins with a bass line straight out of the pages of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" only to evolve into a slowly melodic toe tapping sound all the band's own.
The anthem-like "Where They Wander" is highly reminiscent of Danzig era Misfits, spouting off antisocial lyrics like "Calling my name/begging my brains/inviting me in/making me one of them/I'd rather tear my heart out." Meanwhile, the greaser ode "Kool Flattop" is a throwback to 50's rock and roll a la Chuck Berry and Carl Perkins.
With the Pops' music so firmly entrenched in the back catalogues of American music, it would be easy to tag the group as little more than a retro act.
Thankfully, the gimmick never wears thin. Hell Yeah's 13 neck-breaking tracks are performed with enough blood, sweat and grease to keep the adrenaline pumping from one deliriously ghoulish minute to the next, resulting in a record with more twists and turns than a middle school sock hop.
Grade: B