Search - Swingin Neckbreakers :: Shake Break

Great, and STILL IN PRINT.

Shlomo Sinatra | Alaska | 12/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"[...].

The Swingin' Neckbreakers were (are???) a great band from New Jersey, influenced by both the raw, fast sound of The Ramones and also very clearly a lot of great '60s bands, and early rock 'n' roll like Little Richard and Chuck Berry.

Their first THREE albums are all great (avoid The Return of Rock, it's a giant disappointment after their third and Best album, "The Swingin' Neckbreakers Kick Your Ass!").

This second one here is terrific, more consistently so than Live For Buzz, their debut, which although also really great, isn't as consistently so. This is almost all great to my ears and taste.

Highlights on this fine album are I'm In Love With Me (a remake of the superior single version, which is unfortunately unavailable on CD, for those of us who don't currently have a turntable, and believe that classics should be preserved in as good sound as possible).

Other highlights are the covers of Little Richard's The Girl Can't Help It (done Ramones-style), Creedence Clearwater Revival's Brown-Eyed Girl (which has a bit of a Link Wray sound), and Bobby Fuller's Shakedown, and originals Help Wanted, Action Kid, You're Gonna Make Me, Ice Water (despite being inferior to the single version), Wait....I've just listed most of the album!

Woah, it IS as great as when I first got it, when it first came out.

First, if you have nothing by these guys, by ALL MEANS get "....Kick Your Ass!" FIRST. Then you will want their first two. Hopefully the site I saw (which had NO date posted on it) which stated a new album coming out, I hope it's true, and that they've regained the sound they had before the lackluster, ironically titled The Return Of Rock CD, and the lousy "Christmas" single they put out shortly afterward, which caused me to lose interest for SOME while!

Recommended for fans of Ramones, Lyres, Bobby Fuller, anyone into real rock 'n' roll, played fast and raw.

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