The Creepshow - Run For Your Life

Artist: The Creepshow

Album: Run For Your Life

Label: Stomp Records

When I first heard Burlington, Ontario's premier psychobilly outfit The Creepshow's 2006 debut I remember being impressed, but not blown away.  The combination of Jen "Hellcat" Blackwood's crisp but smokey vocals, horror themed lyrics, and the rest of the band's poppy psychobilly rhythms worked so well - but also sounded a little too familiar.  Since the advent of female led psychobilly outfit the Horrorpops in 2001, the combination picked up steam in the mid 00's, resulting in tasteful imitations like Mad Marge & The Stonecutters and Thee Merry Widows.  Crisp female vocals against a semi-poppy psychobilly backdrop became the common thread linking these bands together, but which also made many of the imitators - including The Creepshow to a certain extent - blur together.  Thankfully in The Creepshow's second effort, Run For Your Life, the band expands their sound, further defining themselves from the pack.

While their previous release, Sell Your Soul, had a "goofy," almost "spooky" psychobilly feel, Run For Your Life sounds more influenced by "punkabilly" - psychobilly's faster, punkier, more rockabilly based younger brother.  While not radically altering song structures - the thick double bass continues taking centre stage and the haunting church organ still echos in the background - the general tempo speeds up, and thanks to the replacement of Jen "Hellcat" with her younger sister Sarah "Sin," vocals have a little more "punch."  Despite the tempo increase, songs like "Demon Lover" and "Run For Your Life" offer a distinct rockabilly vibe absent from from their previous release.  Others like "Burried Alive" offer perfectly envisioned female fronted punkabilly tunes, complete with steadfast drumming, a speedily strummed bass, and plenty of backing "woahs" - right before the song winds down there's even a moody bridge purely featuring backup vocalist and upright bassist Sean "Sickboy" McNab.

Sarah's near seamless replacement of her sister deserves particular attention.  The only real difference between Sarah and Jen is the level of "smokiness" in their delivery.  While Jen's quivering delivery made her more immediately comparable to Horrorpop vocalist Patricia Day, Sarah's voice is a little higher and maintains a certain "roughness."  But because the entire band traditionally contributed backing vocals against Jen's voice, Sarah's delivery still maintains a vocal continuity across both records.

Lyrically the band seems to have matured since 2006.  While its hard to fault a band that takes inspiration from b-movies for writing songs about zombies eating brains, the goofy nature of old tracks like "Zombies Ate Her Brain" hurt re-playability.  While songwriting credit goes to the entire band, after listening to Sarah's solo album, I can't help but think Sarah has helped mature The Creepshow's lyrical content.  Like her solo album, many songs use horror based metaphors for describing real life issues and feelings.

The Creepshow is back and better than ever - faster melodies, a new lead vocalist, and overall better musicianship make Run For You Life stand apart from the crowd.