The Tremors Old-Fashioned Hillbilly Feud CD Review

There are a few sure things in this ole world…. You’ll go to hell for lying as quick as you will for stealing. The other thing is you can be damned sure that when The Tremors release a new album, it’s sure to be one of the best albums you’ve heard to date. The Tremors are one of the best Rockabilly bands left on the planet, and they do it up right in every manner possible. Not only are they some of the finest gentlemen you’ll ever meet, but they’re as good live as they are on disc. North Carolina is a damned lucky state to have a band like this to call it home!
 
The band’s latest effort is entitled Old-Fashioned Hillbilly Feud and it’s a barnburner! It’s 12 tracks of ass shaking, hoopin’ and hollerin’ Rockabilly; it’s ferocious from the word go. “Cabin Fever” gets this shindig off to a ragin’ start with the guitar slingin’, moonlight howlin’ Jimmy Tremor pushing it into overdrive! He wails with the conviction of an early Elvis Presley, but it comes across more like Hasil Adkins after a bender. Tremor’s guitar work is otherworldly, it’s frantic, while spinning a web of classic riffage. I think most who’ve heard the band tend to overlook the Tremor’s insane guitar pickin’, I've been guilty of that, but the more I listen, the more I notice just how great of a player he truly is. Nobody plays guitar like this anymore, the slides and the pickin’ along with his tone are classy, graceful and spastic while hearkening back to the early days to the genre. “High Time” is another knee-slappin’ tune that’ll have you up on your feet and clappin’ out the rhythm. Tremor’s vocals here stand out big time, he croons like an ole Tomcat lookin’ for that special Shecat. The guitar work once again is pure class.

Tremor’s bandmates Stretch Armstrong and Slim Perkins anchor this album with some of the tightest beats/bass slaps I’ve heard in a long time. Perkins and Armstrong are a fantastic rhythm section, I do think Armstrong’s drumming is the real focal point of most of the tracks here – he never overplays, he just serves the songs in the best way possible. Honestly, it feels like he was custom built for this band! Dare I say he's the Charlie Watts of Rockabilly. Perkins is no slouch on the up-right bass, he slaps it into oblivion and really seems to bring the whole thing home. He also sings on two tracks as well. “Devils Dirty Work” and the title track of the album, “Old-fashion Hillbilly Feud”. Perkins is a great background singer, we know, lead singer, not so much, but it doesn’t diminish these tracks whatsoever. It’s just tough to not want to hear Tremor hollerin’ on every song on the album. The Tremors are popular for paying homage to their heroes through covers on their albums and they don’t disappoint here, they include a juiced up version of Johnny Cash’s “Wreck of the old 97” that’s insanely fast, featuring Jimmy Tremor’s patented wails and his insane guitar pickin’!

Old-Fashioned Hillbilly Feud is one of the Tremors best albums to date, it seems the band grows with every release. The musicianship on these 12 tracks is ridiculous and these guys aren’t even signed to a big label! This is the kind of band you’d expect to see playing alongside the Stray Cats and Reverend Horton Heat at the Viva Las Vegas show every year. It’s a damned shame these kinds of festivals/shows are sleeping on bands like this… Do yourself a favor, hit their site up and buy their discography, you won’t regret it!

~Black Angel