The Reptiles. A Swiss Rockabilly band who seems to have been going for an eternity. Yet this is their 3rd album only. I've seen these cats in concert years ago and I was blown away. Although, at a later stage, I played one of their earlier CDs to a friend and he remarked after a couple of songs "not bad, but the guitar player irritates me a bit, he's playing the same part, no matter what the song". O.K., that's what you get, talking shop with someone who does play a couple of instruments himself.
This band, however, is one of the few Rockabilly outfits to play their own songs. On this CD there are exactly zero cover versions, all 14 tracks having been written by their drummer (and vocals). As it goes along with the title of this release, this is a journey around Europe and the tracks are very much up to Reptiles standard. That's to say, very enjoyable Rockabilly and not a boring second in sight. The guitar player (the one who looks a bit like a young Johnny Cash) might still play the same track throughout the tracks on offer here, but, without being told, I bet most folks wouldn't realise this.
One thing you can be looking for here, for forever and a day, is, dirt. You won't find it. This is a very slick piece of Rockabilly (All of their releases are like this) and although I do prefer the rougher version, this here pulls the right strings. In my book, this is simply the best Rockabilly outfit to come out of this neck of the woods. TCY Records TCY-06.
Cheers
Devon
