The Reverend Horton Heat himself has called The Texas Zephyrs ‘one of the best rockabilly bands I’ve ever heard and one of the best honky-tonk bands I’ve ever heard’ and with an endorsement like that, checking out these guys from Fort Worth, Texas was absolutely compulsory.

On their self-titled new LP, we’re treated to four tracks thick with fuzz and bass-slappin’ joy. The Texas Zephyrs’ cover of ‘All I Can Do Is Cry’ is as close as we can get to hearing the original coming from a radio back in 1956, but with a Hank Williams fog that’s cut with pedal steel and full-bodied vocal eruptions. ‘Fancy Dan’ also gets a steely polish in an easy, rockin’ update, and ‘It Looks Up’ is mid-century Country gold that feels like it’s blasting straight out of a dive bar. Closing out the quartet is a reviving update to 1958’s ‘Pick Me Up On Your Way Down’, all trotting bass and waves of guitar.

A great cover song either completely re-invents the original, or pays tribute in such a way that you realise there was more beauty hidden inside the song than you first imagined. The Texas Zephyrs pursue the latter path with passion: away from the crackle of much-worn vinyl, we get a glimpse into how our favourites must have sounded played new, and it’s an absolute blast.

Kate Allvey

‘The Texas Zephyrs’ is released on 21st February from Fun-Guy Records