I'll be honest. When I opened the CD Life Is a Grave & I Dig It!!! by the Nekromantix's, I really didn't expect much.
The latest offering from the group on Hellcat Records seemed a bit - well dated and silly. "Nekrohigh" "Horny in a Hearse" and "Panic at the Morgue," didn't strike me as the most original song titles ever.
Shows how wrong first impressions can be.
The sound is definitely psychobilly and the lyrics are what you'd expect from the song titles - the band describes their music as "Elvis meets the Wolfman." Not to quibble, but I'd say it's more The Rockats — anyone remember them? — meets The Clash meets The Sex Pistols.
First you have your distinctive Rockabilly sound with weird instruments including a bass made out of a coffin, then you have your pounding, distinctive beat and — let's just say it — catchy tune played with serious attitude and mastery (Clash), and finally you have lyrics you don't want mom to hear (Sex Pistols).
What's surprising is that the combination works. Listen and you'll find yourself rocking your head to the music. Then you stop and realize you're starting to hum along to lyrics about murder — "the night I killed her, she swore she'd come back for me," from "Fantazma" — and unusual places for romance — "Tick, tack toe tags, I have some latex body bags, she wants to go for a ride all the time, my girlfriend gets horny in a hearse".
So why haven't we heard more about these guys before? They have been around since 1989 when Kim Nekroman, who had just left the Royal Danish Navy after eight years, founded them. Their subsequent albums and heavy touring got them some play on MTV, but it was mainly relegated to the "Alternative Nation" playlist. Too bad - the band and the music really deserves a lot more exposure.
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