Swing Is Hell

Though this is listed as "full-length", I've always considered it an e.p. No matter, it is almost half an hour of just plain gruesome FUN! There are some hard-driving thrash elements, but they are mixed with an ancient 1950's American rock 'n roll song structuring that is fabulously unique. Imagine a much more metallic Misfits. There is no pell-mell speed like Misfits, though some songs, like the incomparably unforgettable "Michael Landon's Ghost", get pretty quick. There is a prevailing "doo-wop" sound on this album, which the listener applies to even the songs which are more straight-ahead; this is the theme the band tried to convey, apparently.

The vocals are cool-cat in a bluesy, more metal Danzig way(in fact, it was rumoured that Misfits approached this crooner, but aren't there a LOT of such rumours?). All the instruments are prominent and well-served by the production, which is thick and rich; when the heavy parts kick in, you KNOW it! The lyrics are ultra-cool, the kind've thing you'd hear in a swank martini bar situated between the mortuary and the cemetery.

This is, quite simply, an entertaining-as-hell album. Kind've like Macabre gone Blue Velvet Lounge. Have yourself a coupla embalming fluid cocktails, sit back by the crematorium grating, and enjoy yerself a coupla spins of "Swing is Hell"!