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 Bring It On! HorrorPops
 CD Review by Fredrik Roberts / 11/2005

Track listing:
1. Freaks In Uniforms 2. Hit 'N Run 3. Bring It On! 4. It's Been So Long 5. Undefeated
6. You vs. Me 7. Crawl Straight Home 8. Trapped 9. Walk Like A Zombie
10. Where You Can't Follow 11. Caught In A Blonde 12. S.O.B. 13. Who's Leading You Now

Label: Hellcat Records / Release date: 9/13/05

Okay, so I'm listening to the new HorrorPops album for the first time, and I'm thinking about what to say about it to all the good people who swing by this site from time to time.

I'm thinking that I want to explain the concept of Psycho-billy music, which while I'm no expert on the genre, can most easily be described as punked up rock-a-billy. If you don't know what rock-a-billy is, then you're on your own. Then I realize that Psycho-billy conjures up an image in my head that doesn't quite match the music I'm hearing, which is actually very pop-ish&lyrics aside that is&and then it hits me - BLONDIE! It sounds like a more aggressive version of Blondie, so to coin a new term, I'm gonna go ahead and call what HorrorPops does, Psycho-Blondie music.

Now if your cell phone plays "Heart of Glass" every time you get a call, don't go running out to buy this album based on the above. I'm using broad strokes to paint a broad picture . . . got me? Anyway, the record is chugging along, and I'm noticing that: A. I can't stop tapping my foot and bobbing my head, and B. even though I liked it from the start, it's getting better as it goes along.

It peaks for me just past the halfway point with "Walk Like A Zombie." The song starts off slow and eerie, like the beginning of one of those old T.V. shows where the vampire walks out and tells you about the terrifying movie he's going to show you. Then about a minute in, it's like you're listening to The Ronnettes or some other boisterous Phil Spector produced girl group. Fantastic! One of the best songs of the year, period. Worth the price of the disc on it's own - the rest is icing.

Great tracks: "You vs. Me," "It's Been So Long," "Caught in a Blond," "Who's Leading You Now."