Big Bopper « The RingMaster Review

It is December and we all know what that means, the assault of the Xmas single; something notably worse than that obscenely patterned sweater your Gran knitted or the curry kit your partner brought you when misunderstanding the request for something hot and spicy. It is an element of the festive season the world will forever have to endure but at times there is a glimmer of hope, a once in a blue moon unveiling of something to get lustful over. This year it all starts with such a treat courtesy of The Elfish Presleys and the double A-sided single Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney.

The release comes from Norm Elliott of Norm and the Nightmarez fame, who has only just released the outstanding single, She under his own name. Now he gets all festive on us through a download only single released via the great UK label Western Star and thankfully shows bad taste and songwriting does not have to be part of Christmas.

Santa Was a Rockin’ instantly has ears and feet leaping within its fifties seeded rock n’ roll stroll and spicy melodic temptation. With the pulsating upright bass aligning with crisp beats as Norm’s guitar spins an infectious web of smiling enterprise, the track proceeds to have hips swaying and skirts swirling with its energetic shuffle. It is the perfect party track, an incitement to see halls and front rooms a blur of movement with its The Stargazers (eighties band) meets Big Bopper festivity.

Accompanying it, Will Santa Come Down the Chimney offers a more relaxed and sultry atmosphere under a noir lit sky as surf laced guitar and mellow flames of sax wrap the croon’s emotive lyrical heart. There is a touch of Bobby Rydell and Reverend Horton Heat to the song but spicing to something as ever, and shown throughout his career to date, distinctive to Norm Elliott in sound, voice, and mischievous composing.

Certainly an abhorrence of Christmas ditties will continue with us but we are ready to make exceptions when it is something special, and Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney is certainly that. Having a party? Then you really need this to get it off with a big swing.

Santa Was a Rockin’ / Will Santa Come Down the Chimney is available now via Western Star as a download only release @ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Santa-Was–Rockin-Elfish-Presleys/dp/B017BHBTG8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1446460104&sr=8-4&keywords=the+elfish+presleys

https://www.facebook.com/nelliottx

Pete RingMaster 03/12/2015

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With an interview with the high octane bundle of energy that is King Salami in the offing it is only right we take a look at the recent album from King Salami And The Cumberland 3. To be honest it came out in the tail end of last year but having looked for an excuse to delve back a few months and share this simply brilliant explosion of irresistible and excitable sounds an interview seems a good enough reason. Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers is music at its best and what it was invented for, to ignite the deepest pleasure and thrills possible within each and every one of us.

Formed in 2006 the quartet of one Japanese, one French, one Caribbean and one Spanish conjurors of fun, draw influences and flavours from the fifties and sixties and spice them up with their own contagious blend of insatiable ingenuity and energy. Consisting of former members of the Ulcers, Chinese Lungs and Parkinsons, The Cumberland 3 led by the irrepressible King Salami leave one breathless and over excited with their album. Released on Dirty Water Records Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers is a wonderfully agitated swell of movement, its brief to unleash an unrelenting explosion of infection and hyperactive melodic pleasure.

King Salami And The Cumberland 3 has riled up hearts and emotions all across Europe with the sharing of stages with the likes of The Pretty Things, The Trashmen, The Standells, The Mummies, The Bellrays, and The Cynics to name a few. Renowned for their irresistible live performances and sweat drizzled excitement, the band have translated that energy and insistent mischief into their previous singles and now this album. It brings the essence of having the band there in front of you as it plays with your senses whilst firing up the need and urgency to catch them on stage.

The album explodes into the ear with Do The Wurst, an instantaneous assault of punk fuelled rhythm & blues/rockabilly. The beats and rhythms assume full control of limbs like a maniacal puppeteer instantly whilst the guitars fire up the aggression and attitude expected from a meeting of Screaming Jay Hawkins and The Meteors. The track has one joining in with movement and voice within mere seconds and even has the most composed and reserved of us flinging a few air guitar chords into the heated air. It is the perfect opening and sets the album up for greatness no matter what follows. To be honest the album only took a couple of songs to make a believer and adoring fan of us here so excuse the drool dripping from each and every word we place upon it.

The excellent I Smell A Rat with its raw and hungry breath searches for the ear next. With garage caked intensity to the guitars it leaves a big grin on the face though not as wide as from the following Mojo Workout. If you could have improper thoughts about a song this would be the one at the centre, a bristling irresistible slice of naughtiness. King is supreme leading the thoughts and emotions into trouble like a mischievous big brother ably assisted and egged on by the rest of the band.

Every song deserves close attention as not once does the manic party within the album lull or slip into a reserved moment, but those pleasures are for you to find out and feel. The more fiery highlights though include songs like the wanton sax pleasuring of They Don’t Know, the tribal contagion that is Pawnee Stomp, the Big Bopper/Screaming Lord Sutch glory of Watcha Gonna Do Tomorrow, and Sweet Love To You where Gene Vincent meets Ray Campi and The Blue Cats in a salacious love nest.

A twisting and energetic boiling brew of rockabilly, rhythm & blues, punk, and explosive rock n roll Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers is simply magnificent and the surest fullest pleasure one can have within the ear. With spices and passion from the likes of James Brown, Sonny Burgress, The Sonics, and The Frantic Flintstones to name a mere few you can easily tell the vibrant and pulsating sounds within the album. King Salami And The Cumberland 3 are the match to fire up every day and heart; you just need to say hi.

https://www.facebook.com/KingSalamiandtheCumberland3

RingMaster 23/05/2012