Mad Sin

First released in 1998 und das Vaterland, Mad Sin's album Sweet and Innocent? Loud & Dirty! finally gets a "proper release" on North American Shores, courtesy of Thorp Records. A band that's been around for nigh on 17 years, these guys could quite possibly be the only band to have been on more labels than they have albums released. How that's possible is for Stephen Hawking to figure out. That guy's wicked smart.

Originally their seventh full-length album, Sweet & Innocent? Loud & Dirty!'s debut redux came out just days before their tenth album, (Are you keeping track? There'll be a quiz later) Dead Moon's Calling is released in Germany. If history is any guide, we should see the release of that album here in around 2009. Mark your calendars!

In media-sheep terms, psychobilly is basically a mix of rockabilly and punk. This amalgam of genres can work to good effect eg: Tiger Army or ill effect eg: Tiger Army III: Ghost Tigers rise. Sure it still has all the pomp(adours) and pomposity as rockabilly, but with a hearty dose of attitude. Unfortunately it's a genre that is also seemingly as concerned with image as much as the hair-farmers of the 1980's (remember the 80's, kids?). I defy you to go to a live show of its ilk and not feel inadequate because of the length of your wallet chain or Bettie Page bangs.

Kicking off with the best damn sprechen ze deutche intro since "Rock of Ages," Sin City sets the pace for a somewhat fun ride, providing the line isn't too long. The album, while decent, is somewhat of a one-trick pony with the quick-tempo chaos interspersed with oddly placed backing vocals that sound like they were borrowed from Accept's Russian Roulette. It's like an aural non-sequitur that's either brilliant or ludicrous, depending on your mood. Scratch that, it's just ludicrous.

It's funny, I don't know why, I don't know how, but Europeans can get away with a lot more than us decadent westerners can. Would you be able to sing "Shanana I'm flying on pink clouds tonight, Shanana you're suffering but I'm alright" with a straight face? Me either. And I'm of the school of thought that unless you're Joey Ramone, don't even try. On the plus side, there are only two tracks that have "sin" in the title. This method of invoking the group's name in a song is a time honored tradition' for hacks. This hasn't been considered cool for' ever. It's never been considered cool.

For all of my palaver, however - this type of music usually has a dedicated enough following to make a band making any such misstep virtually bulletproof. Those wading into the genre would be better off with the aforementioned first Tiger Army album or even Mad Sin's Survival of the Sickest, which is the same formula with much better results.

6.6 / 10 — Kevin Fitzpatrick