Album Review: The 69 Cats - "Seven Year Itch"

 

Started up as a side project a decade or so ago by frontman Jyrki from Finnish goth/glam legends the 69 Eyes and guitarist Danny B Harvey (Lemmy's six stringer in his Headcat side project), the 69 Cats have been joined by Damned drummer Rat Scabies for this, their second album. A hell of a pedigree then, but can this album live up to it?

Pleased to report that the answer is yes - opener She's Hot kicks in with a winsome mix of Jyrki's Glenn Danzig-meets-Pete-Steele croon, Harvey's frenetic shredding guitar and Scabies' pounding drums and when it's followed by a superbly sinister cover of Post Malone's Hollywood's Bleeding, you know we're in safe hands here. You're The Kind Of Girl starts off as a mid-paced rocker before unexpectedly breaking into a full on psychobilly breakdown for the middle eight. Decent enough but it feels like a bit of a step down after that opening one-two. However, the spaghetti westernisms of Good Time To Die take the pace down a notch to good effect and get this one back on track.

Graveyard Blues, contrary to its title, has more of a New York Groove style glam strut to it before Hey World goes into more traditional rockabilly territory with Harvey taking over the vocals and the frenetic Psycho goes into full on Cramps style urgency before the sleazy Vampire Shuffle sees Jyrki breaking out his best Elvisisms to good effect. Teddy Boy Boogie packs the requisite amount of bug-eyed menace to its rockabilly grooves before they rework and retitle Hell Of The Mountain King (also covered by the Offspring earlier this year) into a groovy slice of goth-surf boogie leaving just the lurching I'm Evil and the frenetic It Ain't Enough to round this one off nicely.

I've seen a couple of reviews of this album slating it for being too derivative but I respectfully disagree - for me, this is a great shot of jet black adrenaline which wears its influences proudly on its sleeve but mixes them together to create a heady brew which'll appeal to greasers and goths alike. Slick back yer hair, dig out your mirrored shades, grab yerself a Bloody Mary and enjoy it for the fun that it is.

Bandcamp Link

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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