Right, so who's up for some in your face, straight up no nonsense psychobilly meets angry punk rock?? Well, look no further than Pennsylvanian four piece The Whiskey Bats!!
These guys meld high energy 90s style skate punk with a psychobilly twist and are heavily influenced by all things spooky, macabre and monstrous. What is not to like? Not only do they appeal to my dark side with their tales of murder, mutilations and their general approach and appreciation of horror by using samples and having song titles like "Attack of the Bleeding Brain", "Gallows" and "Burn With Me". They also unknowingly tap into my nostalgic side by creating songs that remind me of White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean-era NoFX and Let's Go-era Rancid with some faint whiffs of The Meteors and a bit of Dead Kennedys to boot. With all these similarities you'd think there was no room for individuality but The Whiskey Bats still manage to do their own thing. Vocalist Riggz has a distinctive voice that commands your attention whilst the rest of the band pull off their blend of fast paced, clean sounding skate punk with finesse and precision.
In terms of recording Flesh Eaters is set out really well and they have captured the energy and raw power impeccably. It has a well balanced track list that leaves the listener little room for breath. It blasts it's 12 tracks out in just over 30 minutes and leaves you feeling exhausted but wanting more. Flesh Eaters is hard to skip through as every track deserves its air play but stand out tracks for me are most definitely "The Carnival of Crime in Connecticut" purely for the NoFX vibes, "Moonlight Girl" and "NC-17" for the super awesome monster content.
Be sure to check The Whiskey Bats out via their socials and grab yourself a copy of Flesh Eaters from their Bandcamp page.
