The Black Crabs   13 Times Black Cat Boogie - Say Mama - Romeo's Teacher - Nothing Ever Happens - Three Cool Cats - Caravan - Not Knowing How - Congratulations - Messin' Around / Corndog - Give It Up - Thirteen Times - Going Home - Hidden Track This is their second album and I have to say that I love The Black Crabs. Who wouldn't? They have one talented singer/songwriter/guitar player that mixes rockabilly, blues, surf, twang, in one word a true rock'n'roll player, an excellent rhythm section with a drummer who swings the rock and rocks the jazz, and one of the coolest and gifted bass player. Like their previous album it mixes various influences, the modern with the old, the whole thing being very well produced and recorded. Along with rockabilly (Black Cat Boogie), you'll find an excellent rocker with a 60's vibes and a farfisa organ (Romeo's Teacher), a stroll ("Three Cool Cats", that has a bit of a "spy-movie" sound on the guitar), an uptempo jazzy/pop number (Thirteen Times), a kinda Les Paul instumental (Caravan), a jazzabilly duet between Kirsten and Tom (Messin' Around with slap bass on the fore and rich drums breaks) and plenty of rock'n'roll in between (including Gene Vincent's Say Mama, Going Home). A superb album and a perfect demonstration for anyone who still believes that rockabilly and rock'n'rol means "retro". Check out their myspace to order it.         Blast Off Self-Released Blast Off! - Pickup Line - Can’t Find the Doorknob - Shelton Express Cat’s Pajamas - Sweet Sweet Girl Dangerous Curves - I Do - Rink Lay - Poor Jenny - Stink Bomb - Dirty Old Man - Singin’ The Blues - Ready Ready Ready Coming from Seattle, The Black Crabs are The Donettes minus Rebecca the singer. Originally the band was formed for a short time to back the legendary Wanda Jackson but they’re still together playing their brand of modern rockabilly and that’s a good point for us. Guitar player and lead singer Jonathan Stuart wrote eight songs and the remaining six are covers, ranging from Don Gibson to The Sonics via The Everly Brothers. With such different covers you’re not surprised to hear more than just rockabilly (well represented throughout this album with Kirsten’s effective slap bass) in their influences. A little bit of Link Wray here (the instrumental named… “Rink Lay”),jazz (“Cat’s Pajamas”), 60’s stuff (“Stink Bomb” with twangy electric bass) and a pitch of country. The whole album is played with a positive “don’t look back” attitude (very nice production work) which is a good way to take a fifty year old musical tradition into the new century.Take a look at their website: www.theblackcrabs.com which is as well designed as this CD is. Fred "Virgil" Turgis