VINNIE LOVES HIS EPITAPH

I had a long and awesome story for this CD review, but it was hogging all the shine time I needed to give to the artists themselves. Therefore, I'll be frank. Or Frankenstein. An appropriate pun, considering the first band is as unusual a creation as that of Miss Mary Shelley. They're known only as Nekromantix, and they're Hellcat Records' newest signing-- a three-man Danish psychobilly act. That's right, Danish. And psychobilly. Didn't think our country-fried sounds could reach such neutral European shores? You thought wrong. Nekromantix newest CD, Return of the Loving Dead, is like a Misfits album gone playful. Imagine a living-dead hotrod rally, or a graveyard sock-hop, and you'll get an idea of what the album sounds like. The lyrical content is equally as amusing, with appropriately creepy titles like, "Gargoyles Over Copenhagen," "Generation 666" and "Who Killed the Cheerleader?" Return of the Loving Dead is an awesome album, and aside from the album art, I'd say this one is most definitely worth the money. On the other hand, there's nothing super new or different about what 1208 are doing on their debut Epitaph album, Feedback is Payback, but that doesn't mean it's bad. It's SoCal punk, South Bay-style, which is just another way of saying, "These guys wear their influences on their sleeves." And with Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge at the production helm, it should come as no surprise that the Pennywise sound is one of the most notable influences. Musically, the album rocks and rolls with the best of them. Lyrically, it's boring as primetime television. Why couldn't they have picked up on some of Pennywise's lyric writing abilities? Who knows. But that's the only truly noticeable flaw. Otherwise, it's another safe punk record for people who like to stick to that genre. Check it out for yourself, though. I'll be listening to those Danish dead boys.