Yet another band I had never heard of before pulling their record out of the KEXP stacks, The Hellcats packed quite a bit of narrative into their six years as a band. (See that myspace link for information on seemingly every thing any of the band members ever did in or out of the band.) It seems these ladies outta Memphis were building up quite a head of steam after the release of this album, which would end up being their last. According to that same myspace page, they broke up the year after Hoodoo Train’s release “due to a business issue that arose after we got increased exposure after a review in Rolling Stone.” (Take note, all you bands hankering for “increased exposure” - it could be your undoing!) Hopefully KCMU didn’t have too much to do with the increased exposure that ultimately spelled their demise.
| “‘Hoodoo Train!’ Shore is fun…”
“All women… all rockin’… all right!” “THEY SUCK!” “You know?… I think I saw them open for Panther Burns in Boston 2 years ago (Kim Deal was there!) but they were awful! But this is pretty great, so maybe it was a different band.” “No, it probably wasn’t. The 2 bands are good friends.” “‘Back Door Slam’ is cool.” “Don’t mean to be a grump, but this album doesn’t deserve H. It’s too polished and it doesn’t really rock. Maybe it’s just that I hate country & western — sorry.” “A great pop sound on ‘When You Walk in the Room.’ Very nice harmony vocals.” “Found it kinda boring.” “Great.” “‘Where the Hell Is Memphis’ is fucking great.” “H First LP of ‘current’ rock I’ve liked in a long time. Derivative at times but all are worth playing except 2.2.” |
One Comment
I had a chance to see them open for Tav Falco back in the late 80’s. Several of the Hellcats were members of Panther Burns (or at least, they sang backup live).
I liked ‘em.