Rock ‘n’ roll trio Stray Cats are back , celebrating their 40th anniversary with their first new album in 26 years. The trio, comprising Brian Setzer (guitar & vocals), Lee Rocker (drums & vocals) and Slim Jim Phantom (drums & vocals) tracked 40 at Blackbird Studios in Nashville in late 2018 following a series of shows (their first in a decade) which had proved rapturously received. With producer Peter Collins (Rush, Bon Jovi) and engineer Vince Powell (Jack White, Arctic Monkeys) on hand, the band cut twelve new tracks of organic rock ‘n’ roll that celebrate both the return of Stray Cats and the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll itself.
Opening with the surfer sounds of Cat fight (over a dog like me), Stray Cats take the slinky upright bass of Top Cat, the reverb-drenched surf guitar of Dick Dale and a jazzy shuffle to create a joyous opening number that is entirely irresistible. So few bands are out there making music like this, and it instantly transports the listener to a simpler time when all a band needed was a set of great songs to get ahead. With that in mind, the crackling Rock it off is a track you expect to find playing in the sort of fifties US diner that has teenagers dancing between (and possibly on) the tables. And so it goes… I’ve got love if you want it would fit effortlessly onto a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack (possibly juxtaposed with scenes of unbelievable carnage), although a highlight is found within the smooth groove of Cry danger, a track built around a hot-wired riff and possessed of a smoky, late-night vocal reminiscent of Barry Adamson. The aptly-titled I attract trouble sounds like a James Bond theme from an alternative universe, the taut riff and tom-driven percussion creating a sense of tension that is only dispelled with the ramshackle rockabilly of Three time’s a charm – a dancefloor filler delivered with effortless panache.
Opening the second half of the album, the smooth That’s messed up has an evil-Elvis vibe, although it’s the open-topped cruise of When nothing’s going right that gets the feet tapping with its whip-crack rhythm. The spirit of The Tornadoes is evoked on Desperado whilst the whimsical Mean pickin’ mama has a country vibe to it. With the album hurtling towards its conclusion, the fast-paced I’ll be looking out for you is the album’s toughest song, with a driving rhythm, stabbing riffs and a stinging solo. It leaves the fantastic Devil train, a satanic-surfer take on rawhide, to round things out in ecstatic fashion, the rhythm set to pace of the titular train and the guitar stabbing away with gleeful malevolence. It’s a breathless conclusion to an album and it seems very much that the band saved the best for last with the final two tracks proving immense highlights on an already impressive album.
Tracked live, 40 captures the spark and the energy of a stage performance and, in this age of ever-increasing digital artifice, the tangible sense of authenticity is something lacking from so much of what is produced that fans cannot help but respond to the sound of Stay Cats. 40 has an effortless charm, hardly surprising from these veterans of the music world, and it is a joyful, heartfelt record that they have made. Turn it up, tap those feet and embrace 40, a genuine celebration of a very special band. 9
