The Life of Riley

The A-Bones were the "band" side of KICKS Magazine/Norton Records folks Billy Miller and Miriam Linna, husband and wife, rocking down the highway of record-collecting life, creating tonal mayhem wherever and whenever they strike. Miriam did time as the original drummer for the Cramps and both of them cut some pretty wild sides with some identical twin guitarists as the Zantees, but the A-Bones sides are another matter entirely. This ain't no rockabilly cover rehash, The A's can write their own pieces of nonsense, not caring if they sound just like the record or not, unless it's sounding like some totally obscure vulgar piece of wax like "Marlene" by the Sonics.

But that's the whole point of this band; playing the bejesus out of this stuff, with a true American gum-chewing perspicacity, not some reverential/nostalgic tear rolling down its cheek. With Miller's go-for-broke vocals, Bruce Bennett's drenched in reverb guitar manglings, Marcus the Carcass' zoom bass combining with Linna's simple, kick-ass drumming and the new addition of horn-tootin' fool Lars Espensen, this is a noise combo to be reckoned with, the kind of band that Jon Bon Jovi sees in his nightmares.