The Horrorpops – Kiss Kiss Kill Kill

There are certain bands that become staples for genres. They are the bands that you think of when you hear the genre mentioned and most bands entering the scene are held up against them. For psychobilly the staple bands include the likes of The Cramps, Tiger Army, Reverend Horton Heat, and Horrorpops. Now one of those staple acts, The Horrorpops, are back with their third album – Kiss Kiss Kill Kill – and ready and willing to continue leading the way for the genre.

Stripped down to a trio as opposed to the monstrous six piece that occupied their prior releases, Patricia Day and The Horrorpops may have lost a bit of the energy from their first two albums but have made up for it with a much more cohesive and well-rounded effort than anything they’ve done before. There’s still the unmistakable twang of the stand up bass and vocals that many bands like Thee Merry Widows andThe White Barons have tried to reproduce along with spats of raucaus energy, however the band has slimmed down on some of the background mud that cluttered Bring It On! and Hell Yeah!.

The most noticeable difference is the lack of back-up vocals, woahs, and gang vocals that always rounded off previous tracks like Where They Wander and Undefeated. Instead there sole background vocals are supplied thanks to the echo effect where Patricia Day’s vocals are repeated softer in the background and the occasional chant from Kim Nekroman. But what they lose by the elimination of that is more then made up for by the marked improvement in Day’s vocals which seem stronger and more confident than before.

Despite the slimed down numbers, The Horrorpops are still able to pack a punch in their rockabilly infused sound. One listen to the psycho-surf-punk instrumental Horrorbeach Pt. 2 and that becomes instantly clear. The opening track, Thelma And Louise, opens up with a bass-heavy beat and Day’s vocals delivered at a lower pitch until the chorus comes in and kicks the song up a notch. Missfit is an outcast’s anthem that still remains one of the highlights of the album every time you listen to it thanks to it’s upstroke and rockabilly/new-wave style while the shortest song, Heading For The Disco?, is a tongue in cheek attack on 80’s disco whores and definitely leads the album in pure energy. Unlike on their first two albums though, The Horrorpops aren’t afraid to mix up the tempo a bit as proved by the slightly longer and slower title track and Everything’s Everything; not to mention the more pop-oriented Keep My Picture which just further cements the idea of diversity into the album.

Kiss Kiss Kill Kill is yet another dose of high energy psychobilly like only The Horrorpops can deliver. It remains entertaining throughout thanks to a refined sense of confidence and diversity that, upon further inspection, their first two releases were lacking all the while enabling them to stay up on the list of psychobilly staples.