Southern Culture on the Skids: Zombified
Calling Southern Culture on the Skids’ album, Zombified, specific to the point of absurdity is sort of an understatement. It’s a gimmicky concept – a tribute to the low-budget monster movies popularized at drive-ins, back when there were drive-ins – coming from a largely gimmicky band; a band sometimes known for throwing banana pudding and fried chicken into the crowd at their shows. Originally released as an eight song EP over ten years ago, it has been re-mastered and extended to create the package presented here. In their quest to pay tribute to all things trashy and maligned, a concept album like this is sort of an inevitability.
Had it been released at any time but Halloween, it would have been a tough sell, but it does have everything Southern Culture on the Skids (SCOTS) albums are supposed to have: the surf-fueled guitar ecstasy, the honky-tonk twang, and the clever, but sometimes silly, lyrics. This time around, though, that stuff is in service of vampires and swamp creatures. “Your teeth are sharp, your tongue is smooth, your touch is cold and it leaves a bruise”, Rick Miller sings on “Bloodsucker”.
The tone is convincing, but light-hearted–“Monster Mash” territory. If there are any phantoms on here, they are of the Scooby-Doo variety. It’s showmanship in the vein of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and the schlock of The Misfits, without the deadly seriousness. Sure, they’re drinking from skull-shaped chalices here, but SCOTS make no qualms about letting the listener know the chalices are full of soda pop.
Rating: 7.0/10
MP3: Southern Culture on the Skids “Bloodsucker”
Buy: iTunes