It’s Halloween time which, in the world of psychobilly, means that a trip down to dark and dirty south London is the order of the day. To be more specific, a trip to one of the finest psychobilly festivals in the world, the three-day psychobilly freakout at the New Cross Inn. This year the festival boasts legacy acts in the form of Bal and the Stingrays, and the Guana Batz alongside titans of the new wave of psychobilly, hailing from Canada, the Brains, alongside some twenty-five other bands.
The Friday afternoon slot got off to a strong start with a band hailing from Brighton that emerged a couple of years ago and that are really very competent indeed. Boneyard Breakout seem to have adopted a slightly more punkish-edge since I last saw them, but there is still enough billy to tickle this old timer’s fancy and they go down a storm with the assembled. Next were a trio dressed like Trekkies by the name of the Spike Direction Project, who, to be honest, seemed like a rather ill-fitting band, more indie than billy. Unfortunately, the Teenage Zombies faced insuperable travel problems from the midlands which gave the Creepfreaks an expanded set which they deployed delightfully. Peter Presley has honed this project very successfully over the years and the band dispatch something of a masterclass of surf guitar and old school Meteors’ Wreckin Crew inspired psychobilly gems with the pick of the bunch probably being the wonderful ‘Shed’.
Next the Dead Hombres transported us to the wild west with their atmospheric guitar-led soundscapes, punctuated with some great catchy tunes including the terrific ‘Street-Walking Zombie’. Next was a band about whom I knew nothing except that they were from Lithuania and apparently appearing at the festival represented the culmination of the band’s ambition to play London. Whilst I am pleased that they fulfilled that ambition, the Thundercocks were really not my cup of tea. They were far too much on the heavy metal side of things and far to thin on the billy for my liking and, as I always say, you can’t like everything, though judging from the crowd response there was plenty that did like them.
Next up and getting things very much back on track were the superb X-Ray Cat Trio from Leeds, led by the quite incomparably talented El Nico. This band is far more than just a Psychobilly band, though they do that very well too, but this is alongside a deep knowledge of and versatility with such diverse genres as surf, doo-wop and rock and roll. My favourite song of their set being the wonderful ‘Lonely Night’. Taken as whole, this really was quite a spell-binding set from one of the most fabulously-talented bands to grace the scene in many years.
Precisely the same adjectives could be employed for the next band, returning to the festival for the first time in quite some years and some ten years since the release of the genre-defying classic ‘Dead Transmission’ it is, of course, the mighty Graveyard Johnnys. With guitarist Callum having relocated to France and seemingly on permanent sabbatical from the band Joe Grogan has been fortunate in being able to call on the musical wizard that is Kris Passmore to step into the breach and, it has to be said, that he does an absolutely wonderful job. The band has at its disposal a really quite enviable arsenal of songs that it dispatches with real aplomb from the raucous splendour of ‘Cherylene’ to the intensity of ‘Dancefloor of Death’ in so doing reminding the assembled what a truly remarkable band this is and instilling the desire for more studio output from these wonderful Welshmen (with the exception of Kriss, who is English).
Closing the show this evening is the legendary Bal Croce joined by a full compliment of Stingrays. From first to last this is a wonderful celebration of the band’s catalogue that is delivered with real passion and panache. This was undoubtedly the best set that I have seen the band play, though unfortunately I missed out on seeing the band in its original incarnation.
Early doors, Saturday afternoon, and while many punters were still waking up and nursing their hangovers, the hard core wee in for a rare treat in the form of Professor Baba and His Unknown Band. Until his appearance on the stage I had no idea who this character was, but it quickly emerged that it was none other than Simon WIld, the prolific main man from the absolutely splendid Oh Gun Quit! And it was just him, sat down with his guitar with a bass drum and hi-hat for accompaniment. Stomping out a series of garage-inspired rock and roll nuggets this was one of the hidden gems of the festival.
Next up were Tom Toxic Und Die Poison Jerrys. Having already supported the likes of Demented Are Go and Guana Batz in their native Germany, this was the band’s first appearance on these shores and what a show it was! Despite performing with a stand in drummer, the performance was absolutely seamless, in no small part thanks to the superb work on the double bass by Slappin Rockabee. However, it is down to the exceptional song-writing and delivery of these new neo-rockabllly classics by the aforementioned Tom Toxic that the band is so highly recommended. I thoroughly endorse the band’s debut LP which I reviewed on this site a couple of weeks ago.
Next to the stage were O’Morales, another of the East European bands who, despite the presence of a double bass were rather too thin on the billy component of their sound for my liking. The same was also true of the British band that followed them to the stage, the Electric Cowboy Club whose sound was decidedly punky, but where they differed quite markedly from the band that preceded them was that they had an absolutely compelling stage act. From the very first bar to the final crescendo it was impossible not to be transfixed by frontman Brandon who was literally all over the place, covering every inch of the venue. Speaking with someone’s who’s opinions I value greatly after the set, this person said that the Electric Cowboy Club is one of those very rare bands that might go on and make it. He might just be right. Next up were French punkabilly favourites Dead Bollox. The band is not really my cup of cha, although they seem to be popular amongst the masses. Dead Bollox were followed by veterans of the scene the Surfin’ Wombatz who kept the crowd happy with their tales of ancient Egyptian chamber pots and bank-holiday punch-ups on the Planet of the Apes, all very good fun.
It was time for one of the bands that I had been most excited about seeing, the supremely talented Moonshine Stalkers. Featuring the same rhythm section as the Brains, Txerno on drums and the mighty Bruno Malo on bass and led by the mercurial John McLaughlin of psychobilly Andy Kandil who has most recently starred with Mad Sin and Banane Metalik. The band has such a killer groove and delightful lead lines that it is impossible not to be won over by the magic of ‘Speed Street’, ‘Space Clowns’, and ‘Cursed’ as well as the bands tribute to their forefathers in the shape of the band’s stellar version of ’Twenty-Flight Rock’. A welcome surprise was the invitation to the stage of Djamel Abina of the Blue Carpet Band who performed ‘No Cadillac’ and ‘My Babe’ quite magnificently. I can reveal that Djamel and Andy will be paring up in a new band in the new year, which is really exciting news. All being said, this was an absolutely faultless set by one of the greatest bands of the genre.
The penultimate act for Day 2 was the Deathcaps. With a distinctly rougher edge than the band that preceded them, the Deathcaps nonetheless capture the magic of the scene. This is in no small part to the genius song-writing of Stu Rat who on songs like ‘Venus Fly Trap’ exhibits a mastery of tempo, dynamics and melody. He is also aided by the superb drumming of Tom Hamer who coming from another scene brings considerable originality, bassist Adrien has also settled in well.
This was a killer set by one of my favourite acts. Which just leaves the Brains, arguably the greatest band to emerge in the last 15 years. Fronted by the wonderful Rene de la Muerta the band produces splendidly melodic, atmospheric and very fast 21st century psychobilly of the highest order. ‘Misery’ is perhaps my favourite number of the night, but it really is rather like picking your favourite child, such is the quality of the material and the Iberian rhythm section is genuinely first rate. You will struggle to find a band that is equal to the Brains and they provide a superb finale to a very good day at the New Cross Inn.
Day three of the festival got off to a slightly underwhelming start, if I am honest, with a new band to me, a British duo b the name of the Gadgets. Whilst there have quite undeniably been some superb duos of late, including the Courettes, the Bitter Pills, the Flat Duo Jets, the Black Keys and the White Stripes, it does not necessarily follow that a two-piece is preferable to a three piece, especially if you have no fuzz or grit to compensate for the lack of bass. In such circumstances I would strongly urge the addition of a bass of some sort. However, I look forward to giving the band a second chance to change my mind at the Bedlam festival in March. The Cripple Town Rejects really didn’t float my boat at all I’m afraid. Killer Tone Jones, I was pleased to see play live for only the second time. While I appreciate the melodic soundscapes that they create, I still feel that the vocals are buried too deep in the mix, though this was a considerable improvement in performance, so they are heading in the right direction.
Next was a band that I had been looking forward to seeing for some time, the female-fronted Bitter Lemons, with quite a soulful tinge to their sound I was impressed by the variety in the band’s repertoire. They are definitely a band to keep an eye on for the future.
Next was a band that impressed me hugely when I saw them at Bedlam: Octopus King. Unfortunately, the French band’s set was rather sabotaged by problems with the bass which persisted for much of their set, mercifully this didn’t detract from the band’s imperious version of ‘Tainted Love’. I really look forward to seeing this superb act again when they are firing on all cylinders. The Spacewasters took to the stage next and they did not disappoint at all. Playing a selection of songs from their long-awaited and superb sophomore album, marvellous monoped Mick marshalled his troops through a typically rip-roaring set with ‘the Letter’ and new number ‘Twisted Nerve’ standing out as particular highlights.
Next on were the ever-popular Sin Kings who bringing their metallic brand of psychobilly whipped their way through fan-favourites including ‘Know Too Much’ and ‘the Surgeon’ before bringing Mick Spacewaster back to the stage for a killer rendition of the Sex Pistols’ ‘Bodies’. So to the penultimate act of the festival, the kings of Gore and Roll, all the way from France Banane Metallik. I confess that I have tended to find this band’s embrace of metal a little off-putting when I have seen the band play before. But, a very big difference this time, was the addition of Andy Kandil on guitar. So the question was whether the wunderkind of psychobilly could do enough to win me round and the answer was ‘yes’, very nearly. The band definitely had a slightly more punky edge and less metallic flavour and Andy was really compelling as a performer, as, it has to be said, was the band’s front man. So overall, they were pretty good, tnough still not, necessarily, my cup of tea.
Closing the show were the mighty Guana Batz, who seem on especially good form tonight opening the show with a terrific rendition of ‘Rockin in the Graveyard’ before similarly splendid takes on ‘Open Your Mouth’, ‘Lady Bacon’, ‘Loansharks’, as well as a rare outing of ‘Saving Grace’, before, of course, the fan favourite ‘King Rat’. Pip has been on sparkling form, Stuart appeared to be in his pomp and Choppy and Jarod form a formidable rhythm section. This has been the best Batz set that I have seen in many a year and is a fitting end to a weekend full of wonderful music. Thanks go to Ben Foster for putting the whole show together, as well as to all of the staff at the New Cross Inn. I’m looking forward to next year already.
Nick Kemp
Psychobilly Freakout Festival will return in 2026….
Rip It Up Magazine 
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