At this point, I’m sure most people who use the internet on a regular basis are familiar with the song “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps.
The song, featured in the 2022 Netflix adaptation “Wednesday,” gained something of internet (specifically TikTok) virality in the months following the show’s release.
Photo by Nate Isaac on Unsplash
With jilting vocals and a twangy guitar, “Goo Goo Muck” was perfectly strange (some may say kooky) and prime fuel for a littany of TikTok dances.
But while The Cramps may distinguish themselves in the contemporary sphere for their feature in the series, they’re also musical pioneers.
Lurid Fusion
Psychobilly, a rock fusion genre blending elements of rockabilly with punk rock, often with a horror-themed twist, is largely attributed to The Cramps.
Originating in the punk underground of New York City in the 1970s, psychobilly defines itself lyrically with references to sci-fi, horror, exploitation films and often taboo subjects.
The music is campy, shlocky and typically apolitical, often presenting themes satirically and in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.
The genre’s style draws from a wide pool of influences, with some groups presenting a distinct rockabilly slant while others experiment with elements related to new wave, heavy metal, hardcore punk and others.
The Cramps
According to a staff writer for the Washington Post, the (now defunct) official website for The Cramps described frontman Lux Interior as “the psycho-sexual Elvis/Werewolf hybrid from hell.”
The Cramps formed in 1976 and are largely credited as the founders of the psychobilly genre, their widespread popularity heavily influencing the work of other bands.
The band remained together for nearly four decades, touring until 2006 when Interior passed away at the age of 62.
Interior’s seemingly unending zeal for performance, subversion and stimulation largely underscores the energy of the psychobilly genre, with his work still casting a broad light upon contemporary artists.
Rezurex is one of the most influential psychobilly bands to rise out of Los Angeles, with their 2005 debut landing them a partnership with the “Home of Horrorpunk.”
Formed in Southern California in 2001, Rezurex describes themselves as “…equal parts ’50s rockabilly, punk rock and Catholic mysticism.”
Today, Rezurex works hard to keep psychobilly alive, producing new music, participating in live performances and collaborating with other bands within the scene.
Discography
Rezurex self-released their first EP, “Beyond the Grave”, in 2005.
The following year, they re-released “Beyond the Grave” as an LP under the FiendForce Records label.
Moving forward with FiendForce, Rezurex released their 2008 album “Psycho Radio.”
The album, remastered in 2013 with Live Dead Records, produced some of the band’s most popular songs, such as “Walk On the Edge” and “Dead World.”
Following the band’s 2008 release, they released the mini-album “Fiesta De Los Diablos” under Eastern Storm in collaboration with the band Hi-Hopes.
Rezurex continued to release music, with their most recent album, “Skeletons,” coming out in 2020 with Cleopatra Records.
The band’s most recent release, “Yakety Yak,” came out in March of 2023. The single is a vibrant collaboration between Rezurex, The Brains and The Coasters.
Bat Music for Bat People
A compelling aspect of the psychobilly community is its strong culture of collaboration.
Bat! is a “masked supergroup” featuring members from Rezurex, Nekromantix, The Brains and Stellar Corpses.
Formed in 2019, Bat! is, at its core, a group of passionate musicians making music and having a good time.
With campy noir aesthetics and dramatic lyricism, the group’s debut album, “Bat Music for Bat People,” translates into a type of musical theatre.
Final Thoughts
I found Rezurex while putting together a psychobilly set for my radio show, and I can definitely say that they’re a band I will continue listening to.
Perusing their discography illustrates a progression of style, with their newest tracks demonstrating a distinct sound that blends classic rockabilly, romantic rock and Latin American rhythms.
For individuals interested in psychobilly and looking for a band that marches ahead with energy reminiscent of The Cramps frontman Lux Interior, Rezurex is an excellent listening candidate.
To Live A Lie Records. DIY Record Label and Distro since 2005.
Why would I take time out of my day to talk about an independent record label? It’s probably due to the similar urge that drives me away from big name grocery stores and into small locally managed markets and stores to buy produce – I want to know the people that live around me even better.
To Live A Lie Records (TLAL) is a local Raleigh based record label (and record store) run by Will Butler. They focus on cultivating sounds from the grindcore, fastcore and a variety of other delightful hardcore subgenres.
Now, I wouldn’t want to spread any words about a local business that I found boring, but To Live A Lie harbors a truly unique sound coming from hardcore (HXC) around the world. In an interview, Butler mentions the reason he started this label was to help bands like his own to get their sounds into the wild (CVLT Nation interview).
Who is TLAL?
Will Butler founded TLAL in Raleigh in 2005, which makes it a whopping 18 years old. Butler, as mentioned in an interview, started this label all on his own, working an “adult job” and putting money from that into this business (Idioteq interview).
Some of the big bands that TLAL has worked with or works with are Crom, ACxDC (also known as Antichrist Demoncore) and Fading Signal (local Raleigh band), and their more recent projects include Realize (Arizona industrial metal) and Endless Swarm (blisteringly speedy grindcore). All of these artists and bands can be found on TLAL’s Bandcamp page.
I absolutely love the music this label continues to find and release. Butler has done a wonderful job of finding a niche genre and working with artists to produce high quality products year after year. One of the joys of looking through TLAL’s catalog is noticing where some of these bands come from. There are bands from Michigan, Indonesia, Turkey and more.
What does TLAL offer besides good tunes?
TLAL’s website might be a bit outdated and slow, but the content on there is wonderful. There are release updates and posts regularly by Butler. Sometimes there are touring dates posted. Generally, there’s an abundant wealth of information available to anyone that spends some time digging and pilfering the nuggets of gold littered throughout.
Also, TLAL has a brick and mortar record shop in Raleigh, which I still need to go check out myself. I don’t know how much money I’d be draining out of my wallet if I stepped foot in the store, so I’m a little scared to visit.
Butler’s To Live A Lie records has its place cemented in not only Raleigh HXC history, but also the history of the genres that TLAL releases. Independent record labels like this one support so many deserving artists because they actually care about the art and emotions being put into the records that are produced.
TLAL’s discography spans a deep 18 years, and I cannot wait to swim my way through the slurry of screaming sounds over the next few months. It’ll be like panning for gold when everything glitters and catches my eye.
Every single day, an artist somewhere releases a new song. A lot of these songs happen to be good.
What happens if a good song releases and you don’t hear it? What if in some alternate universe it becomes one of your favorite songs, but in this universe you’re stuck listening to all of the bad ones currently on your playlist?
I don’t want that to happen, so here are 12 tracks released in the past month that I think you need to hear.
Armand Hammer is gearing up for their first album since 2021, with “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” out on Sep. 29. The duo of billy woods and E L U C I D seem to be taking their sound in a new direction, teaming up with JPEGMAFIA on production for this track. I’m excited to see where the album goes, especially with the quality of music that billy woods has been putting out this year.
Mick Jenkins’ new album “The Patience” is an excellent return to form, and is worth a listen in its entirety. But if you don’t have time for all that, I think “Show & Tell” is a great place to start.
Earl Sweatshirt and The Alchemist finally dropped their long-awaited collaborative album on a proprietary website that gives off the eerie feeling that it’s connected to the blockchain. This single is available on all platforms however, and does not disappoint.
So, Itchy Kitty, a wonderfully perverse band name, clawed its way into my ears through chance a few years ago when I watched Built to Spill’s performance at Cat’s Cradle way, way back in 2022. I wrote a little about their performance and who some of the members were in this article, but I haven’t stopped listening to their music.
Their harsh sounds and self described “bubblegum p***” genre labels got me addicted to their music and kept me returning for more and more of their sounds (quote from The Spokesman-Review). Itchy Kitty has four releases within their seven-ish year existence as a band and focuses their sound within the punk genre by using shrill, explosive vocals, cranked-up guitar and heart-thumpin’ drum beats.
Who’s this Band?
The members of Itchy Kitty are made up of Ami Elston (guitar, bass, vocals), Naomi Eisenbrey (bass, vocals), Michael (Sug) Tschirgi (drums, percussion), and their guitarist known as Catman. They are currently signed with CORPORAT Records and they’re based out of Spokane, Washington.
Itchy Kitty, as previously mentioned, has four releases out-n’-about, three of which are found on Spotify and all can be found on their Bandcamp. Their releases (in order of earliest to latest release) are “Careless Whisker” from 2016, “Mr. Universe” from 2018, “Under the Covers” from 2020, and “Feargasm” also from 2020.
Album and Sounds
“Feargasm” (EP)
A few the most memorable tracks from this EP are “Fish Money” and “Sexy Requiem” These two tracks differ almost violently, as one is a classic sounding punk track with a strange subject matter (fish money), and the other is an eight minute track with calm, wispy vocals and ethereal sounds.
“Under the Covers” (EP)
This EP focuses on covers from four different bands. My two favorites are “Sonic Reducer” and the “Psycho Killer” cover. I was lucky enough to see the “Psycho Killer” cover live at the Built to Spill show I mentioned earlier, and Eisenberry’s method of signing this track led to her convulsing on the stage floor in a horrific manner. Itchy Kitty pulls new electric emotions from both these tracks, which I found added to my appreciation of the original sounds.
“Mr. Universe” (LP)
In this LP I found “Size Queen”, “Bore” and “Walk Towards Work” to be exhilarating additions to their discography and band’s sound. “Size Queen” focuses on a feminine perspective of body shaming particular parts of a male body with good humor and thrash-y sounds, while “Bore” opens up the album with scratchy vocals and throwing insults towards the boring folks that infest various parts of life.
“Careless Whisker” (LP)
And in Itchy Kitty’s first LP (that’s available on streaming services), the top couple of tracks I’ve fallen in love with are “Tomcat Society”, “Year of the Slut” and “NoMe”. “Year of the Slut” stands out the most to me on this album. It feels like the backbone of what Itchy Kitty wants to sound like. The lyrics are comedic and crass, while the music exudes an air of wonderful ‘moshability’
Itchy Kitty’s main drawback for me is that they don’t have more content out yet. This band is quite young and I cannot wait to see what they continue to do. On their Instagram page they’ve been pretty active with tours and concerts, so hopefully once they settle down for a few months they’ll be back in the studio recording some new “bubblegum p***”.
At the risk of making some readers of this article feel old: Gen Z has nostalgia for the early 2000s now. People are posting images of clunky technology and tagging it #aesthetic. Artists are selling CDs and cassettes as physical merchandise again. And, yes, this includes music genres too: Trance is back.
Many of these new releases are mostly confined to small corners of the internet, so to start on this journey into geometric fonts and really wishing they still made transparent video game consoles, I’ve selected a few landmarks in the development of the scene.
It’s that time of year again, when thousands of music-lovers take to the streets of Raleigh to vibe with some seriously class acts, whatever the weather. Yes, 13 years after its debut, Hopscotch Music Festival is back (Sep. 7-9), with main stages at Moore Square and City Plaza, and dozens of stellar acts across the city.
With over 120 acts performing, even the choosiest of playlist-makers can find something to enjoy over the three day event. From rock to rap, post-punk to country, indie, folk, and more, diversity and inclusivity is truly the name of the game.
However, as with every festival lineup worth its salt, a dilemma lies in the inability to put oneself in more than one place at a time. City Plaza and Moore Square are only half a mile apart, but those steps rack up quickly if you’re planning on trekking back and forth between every few sets.
While the truly determined festival-goer could yo-yo between main stages and catch every set, the best intentions don’t always pan, out so it’s best to know your must-sees in advance. To help plan your musical voyage, here’s a look at the main stage lineups:
Thursday (Sep. 7)
Smooth Haze vs. Alt. Edge
Moore Square:
On Thursday afternoon, Moore Square opens the festival with a mellow haze of rock, jazz and psychedelics. A trio meant to be, Sam Evian, Mild High Club and King Krule embody that chill, late summer, “almost the weekend” feeling.
City Plaza:
Summer is also ending over at City Plaza, but with a bit of an edge, as brooding, post-punk takes the stage with Raleigh’s own Truth Club, followed by similar hints of angst from alt-rock groups, Palm, and Alvvays. Late-90s icons, Pavement, follow suit, closing the alt-rock set in style.
Friday (Sep. 8)
Urban vs. Country
Moore Square:
All things country take the stage on Friday at Moore Square. Sunny War brings modern folk-blues, and Neon Union epitomizes that all-American country sound. Cut Worms and Margo Price add pop and rock slants to the genre respectively, with a singer-songwriter angle.
City Plaza:
Raleigh native, Pat Junior, leads the urban parallel happening at City Plaza. TiaCorine builds on Pat Junior’s pure, simple, rhythm and flow with dreamy beats, while Digable Planets bring retro to the party in the style of 90s hip-hop and jazz. Rapper, Denzel Curry, completes the lineup with his signature emotional style.
Saturday (Sep. 9):
Emo vs. Indie
Moore Square:
Saturday is the host with the most with both main stages kicking off at at an earlier time of around 1pm. Max Gowan play emo, indie tunes to his hometown at Moore Square, before Quasi picks up the pace a little with alt-rock, indie hits. 90s emo heavyweights, American Football define the emo mood of the set with electric guitars and pining vocals.
Things get louder when Sunny Day Real Estate introduce prog rock energy to the lineup, and alt-rock, genre-changing, Dinosaur Jr. round off the set.
City Plaza:
Singer-songwriters start Saturday at City Plaza, with the soft vocals of Chessa Rich and the country twang of Florry. Anjimile adds a hint of melancholy to the mood, before ESG shake things up with post-punk and house.
Singer-songwriter, Soccer Mommy, brings rock and gentle vocals to the set, before the dreamy vocals and beats of indie sensations, Japanese Breakfast, close the festival.
More Info:
Having a better idea of the headliners might make planning a little easier, but with acts like these and almost 100 others playing smaller venues across the city, deciding where to be might just take a little more time. Check out the official website, Instagram, Facebook, X (f.k.a. Twitter) and the official Hopscotch app for more information on the lineup and the latest event updates to best Hopscotch your way around Raleigh next week.
