The Reverend Horton Heat
Liquor In The Front

THE REVIEW

Carrying on with freshness and determination in the same genre for 20 years is not easy at all, probably you could count on the fingers of one hand those who succeed. Reverend Horton Heat tries with mixed results, especially in recent years, although they remain a trio that in live performances show all their ability and musical violence accumulated over the years. The first records, on the other hand, represent one of the peaks of Psychobilly ever, with singles capable of entering the history of the genre.

In 1994, they bring out the third studio album, "Liquor in The Front", and manage to achieve the expressive results of their debut 3 years earlier; it must be said that "The Full Custom Gospel Sounds", the second work of the Texan trio, had not been fully able to match its predecessor: it had good ideas but was slightly disappointing. The quality was undoubtedly there and they demonstrated it even on that occasion, so Sub Pop (the legendary Grunge label) decided to continue by entrusting John Heath, the Reverend, and his two companions, who were still Jimbo Wallace on bass and Taz Bentley on drums (the latter would leave shortly thereafter), to an exceptional producer: Al Jourgensen, the Deus Ex Machina of the Ministry. The influence of one of the symbolic figures of Industrial is felt: Reverend Horton Heat brings out a devastating album, explosive. The effect is like a sonic gunshot fired from close range, in fact, the songs fly one after the other and it's almost complicated to follow the sequence of tracks one by one; reading the back you realize there are 13 in 35 minutes.

The trend is already clear with the starting triptych: "Big Sky/Baddest Of The Bad/One Time For Me", each better than the last (the last of this series will also be chosen as a single, although the first two will more easily win the hearts of enthusiasts). The Reverend's electric guitar always takes center stage, alongside it a top-level rhythm section but this time there's the great addition of special guest Jourgensen who, in addition to acting as the producer, will also grab the guitar, and it shows, especially in "Yeah, Right" and "I Can’t Surf". The only song that feels out of place is the final "The Entertainer".

I reiterate the concept expressed before: "Liquor In The Front" and "Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em" represent the peaks of a historic group for a genre and a style that still resists and attracts an incredible amount of enthusiasts, especially in North America. Thought and played in a different way, paradoxically the result is similar.