Miss Derringer
Winter Hill
Nickel & Dime/Triple X Records
8/10
I am not the only one who judges a book by its cover, or in this case, an album by its cover. Or even a band by their picture… Well, you get the idea. Anyways, so the cover art includes a razor blade with a heart shaped hole in the center, drippy-blood and what appears to be Nazi birds sitting on a high heel. Automatically I am thinking of incomprehensible female screeching about how they can rock out with the boys. The picture shows a singer who looks like Gerard Way’s autistic kid sister, complete with Black Parade-esque goth marching band gear. Which is a bummer, because she’s actually really fucking hot.
Imagine my fucking surprise when the album not only doesn’t suck, it’s actually pretty fucking good. I don’t know what genre to put it in, so I’ll use an analogy. Ready?
Psychobilly:Rockabilly::Miss Derringer:Doo Wop
While most of the songs sound like they could have easily been covers of the Chiffons or Shirelles, the lyrics are a bit more macabre. Lightly distorted songs about suicide, lover’s quarrels, threats… no, it’s pretty much the same, just a tad bit faster. Good stuff.
–Jonathan Yost