[.ca] Spend A Night In The Box

From Amazon.com:
The Texas-based trio Reverend Horton Heat has been in dire need of a solid album, and, luckily, Spend a Night in the Box is it. The middling material that overruled the lukewarm albums It's Martini Time and Space Heater has been scrapped in favor of strictly swinging material, buoyant rockabilly, and a handful of good ol' fashioned stomp. The fun kicks in from the get-go with frontman "Reverend" Jim Heath lost inside of a paranoid Cool Hand Luke fantasy; it sounds like sweat and tastes like bourbon. Speaking of bourbon, "Sue Jack Daniels" dives headfirst into the trio's notorious psychobilly sound, upping the tempo and feedback until the whole thing boils over. Other standout cuts include the thumping "It Hurts Your Daddy Bad" and the trucker fantasy "Sleeper Coach Driver." Spend a Night in the Box, produced by Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers, is reverently retro and proudly rock & roll. --Jason Josephes

amen!:
Legend has it the good Reverend was just a good ole grease-caked short-order cook in Texas who saw some mighty strange lights in the skies over Dallas and poof! became the Revered Horton Heat. That was 1991 and six albums ago. A lifetime in rock and roll. But obscurity hasn't hurt the Heat in the least; the maxo-stylized backwoods pan-grease and hair tonic hick rockabilly punk preacher gig is definitely alive and kicking on Spend A Night In The Box. Think the Stray Cats on steroids: pounding and twangy riff-addled skiffly '50s powerabilly designed to fuel souped-up dragsters, send God-fearing folk scattering like rabbits and make daughters swoon in a sweaty wet trance. Growl! Mossed in boozy sexual innuendoes and lyrical caricature so swampy you can smell the algae (I'm gonna sue Jack Daniels for hittin' me, with the trunk of a big old live oak tree), Spend finds Heat in full-throttle confession surrounded by big boogie woogie broads in blue who've broken his heart, bottles of backyard booze and rubber-burning hot rods from hell. It cooks, it sears, it's a big bosomed shake, rattle and roll that rocks so hard and swings so cool, it's damn near impossible to resist conversion to his confessional brand of satin suit, sin n' sunglass revivalism. Amen!

WILD ROCKABILLY AT IT'S FINEST!:
For fans of straight up rockabilly, this is probably the most assessible of the Heat albums. It has a little bit less of the psychobilly attitude, and a little more of the Carl Perkins, Eddie Cochran swagger. But this is still some great, wild rockabilly, and I think their best cd since their "Full Gospel Sounds" album. Some of my favorite cuts here" The title track "Spend A Night In The Box", "Sleeper Coach Driver", "It Hurts Your Daddy Bad", and "Whole Lotta Baby". All done in the Rev's unique and politically incorrect lyrical style. Honorable mention tracks go to "Sue Jack Daniels", which is the one psychobilly song here that reverts back to the Heat of old. And no Horton Heat cd would be complete without a good ol' instrumental tune, and they do a good one with "The Millionaire". Overall, I think this is an excellent Heat album with no weak sister tunes to deal with. If your a rockabilly nut like myself, you might want to try out these crazy rockabilly classics that run along the same vein as this: The Hillbilly Hellcats-"Rev It Up With Taz"(Taz Bently is Horton Heat's ex drummer), Johnny Legend And His Rockabilly Bastards-"The Best Of Volume None", and Evan Johns And The H-Bombs-"Rolling Through The Night"(a true classic and a must-have). If the Reverend ever comes to town, be sure to check out his live act. He'll give ya a show you won't forget. In the meantime, you can't go wrong with "Night In The Box". It rawks, it rolls, it's spending a lot of time in my cd player.

The Way it's Supposed to Be:
This record rocks the way I imagine this stuff should, like you come out of your fugue state in some bar in West Texas, $3.57 in your pocket, a bolo around your neck, sawdust on the floor; like some bad John Hughes film, Harry Dean Stanton tapping you on the shoulder, some Dennis Hopper character giving you the voodoo eye. The Rev started out promisingly but after five records, and, I think, a stab at commercial respectability, what started out as genuine psychobilly suffered at the hands of heavy (and inappropriate) production. This one is so right it hurts (re: the reverb is perfect). The guitar playing is great, Jimbo's bass playing is as entertaining as ever, and Scott's drumming is right on. Like the other records, they mix up the tempos (getting everything right) and a genuine sense of humor comes through, easing things up just enough. I'm glad this came out when it did. With the swing revival and the inevitable rockabilly resuragence just around the corner, it's nice to have something so honest and genuine beating everyone to the punch. Did I mention that the reverb is perfect? Buy this, Brian Setzer's 68 Comeback Special, and spend the rest of your money on Big Sandy records. You'll be alright.

Like Cool Hand Luke!:
This album puts the 'rock' back into rockabilly. Its got those twangy, slide-inflected guitars that scald like a poke of homemade hootch. The album has a warm, live sound with just the right amount of echo. The Reverend really hits his stride in Spend a Night in the Box. Spend a Night in the Box marks the group's return to its classic, amped-up, rockabilly style....one helluva shot of redemptive moonshine. Get on the dancefloor, cats and kittens, and give the man an 'Amen'.

A GENEROUS DONATION TO THE COLLECTION PLATE!:
I hate to disagree with all the naysayers who claim the reverend has created a dud here. I own every reverend cd and can easily say this is the rev's most creative guitar work and most solid album. Guitar work aside, the lyrics are more thoughtful with less "Daddy-o" rhetoric. This shows the crew for what they really are hardcore retro rockers who play with the precision of a jazz ensemble, yet don't take themselves too seriously. Great fun!

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