Crash the Party

Tribute albums abound like so much kudzo these days, but with an album saluting "the wild, wild songs of Benny Joy," the A-Bones take the genre and knock it on its collective ear with this one. The game plan among the band was to take the trusty cassette van tape of Benny Joy rockabilly classics and, at every subsequent A-Bones session, cut at least one Benny Joy song off of said tape. The group's dedication to the flame-throwing spirit of Benny's music ouvre is evident from track one, "Rollin' to the Jukebox Rock" to the set closer — their debut single — "Button Nose," also aboard in a chaotic live version. While the 'Bones generally play as if they have a vendetta against melody, their 'big production' version of "She Cried for Me" is the most musical track they've ever comitted to magnetic tape. Miriam Linna's take on "Ittie Bittie Everything" recalls the energy on several Rose Maddox recordings while the maudlin hillbilly mush of "The Star of the Show" shows a side of the band hitherto unexplored. But tracks like the ultra-trebly "Gossip Gossip Gossip," "Wild Wild Lover," "Steady with Betty," and "Come Back" keep the slop quotient at a dangerously high level, which is just the way fans of the band like it. Hands down, the most rocking and classiest A-Bones album to date.