Milemarker 26 CD Reviews

 

This is the second release on the Teen Rebel record label from the 3BT's (Three Blue Teardrops) and it's called "Greetings from Milemarker 26". If you are familiar with this group and liked their first Teen Rebel release "Poised in Hate" you will LOVE "Greetings from Milemarker 26". I have to warn fans of traditional rockabilly this ain't traditional styled rockabilly. In fact it pushes the limits and blurs the lines between rockabilly, psychobilly, rock n' roll and early 80's punk. I confess that I am generally no big fan of the subgenres of psychobilly or punkabilly. Too many groups that bill themselves as psychobilly use the "psychobilly" or "punkabilly" label to play rockabilly poorly. They use those labels as an excuse to play fast, loud, out of tune, with little talent and sing poorly about macabre subjects. Let's face it, rockabilly is a fine art. To play it well takes talent--to invent it takes genius.

Three Blue Teardrops are a beautiful blend of the old with the new. Dave Sisson proves himself to be a veteran of rock 'n roll handling the dual task of lead guitar and lead vocals. He paints some pretty pictures with jazzy guitar chords, a little distortion, a little reverb and a slight lean on the Bigsby bar. Nice broad sweeping landscapes that would make Duane Eddy blush. Check out the riff on "Feelin' Single, Seein' Double". Their lyrics are American poetry and prose at it's finest. Check out the words to "Sideways Glance" or "Summer Home". The tune "Badman" is the best true to life love song that I have heard in a while. What person with a significant other could not relate to the sentiment expressed in the tune "Feelin' Single, Seein' Double"? Rick Uppilng on upright bass and backing vocals plays with an aggressive and violent attacking slap rhythm. Sometimes funkish, sometimes punkish, always rockin'. The harmony Sisson and Uppling develop reminds me of Danny and the Juniors (At the Hop). Kevin Lee Meyers on drums is responsible for pushing the band outward, harder, faster, meaner, tougher. He is responsible for much of the punk/hard rock feel in the bands music. Combined as a trio these musicians create an explosive rock n' roll style that is uniquely their own.

This CD manages to capture just a bit of 90's rockabilly angst and blend it with a sometimes swingin' and sometimes driving beat. This cannot be an easy task but the 3BT's accomplish it in fine style. Their strengths are in their originality and inventiveness within the genre. Great wring style. Bold original material. They push their talents to the edge on this release without teetering off. Several recurring rockabilly themes occur: drinkin' songs, killin' songs, a flyin' saucer song, a cowboy tune--all mixed with an aggressive rockabilly/ rock n' roll style and a touch of humor, irony and disgust make this CD the best release from this group yet.

-- Tony O'Bryan, Roots 66


West Coast Psychobilly HomePage
THREE BLUE TEARDROPS
"Milemarker 26"
(Teen Rebel Records)
WHOA! This record shows a LOT of growth from the Three Blue Teardrops, a whole lot. This sounds almost nothing like "One Part Fist," except of course for Dave Sisson's trademark twangy voice (it really grows on ya). The focus on straight "hoodlum styled" rockabilly from One Part Fist is much less evident here. There are a lot of what sound like "cowboy songs" with twangin' vocals and weird harmonies. I really like them, especially like "Major Trouble (From Ursa Minor)" and "Stampede!" those are probably two of the best songs on the record. It goes from that to a surf ballad sounding song called "Feelin' Single Seein' Double", to the 50's love song "Badman" also another favorite of mine. The straight rockabilly songs are also as good as ever like "Kill Krazy", which lyrically about killing his girl friend, is a psychobilly song, so that makes it even better! Also "Mr. Knuckle's Funeral March" is cool as all hell, I love Mobster-grams. It took me a few go-arounds to really decide that I like this record a lot, but I'm hooked now. I think it was just so much of a shock after the other one that it took me a while...but its a great record from a great band, pick it up. (Josh K)

This is really great rockabilly straight from the land it was born. I was skeptical after hearing some of this bands previous work, but this album was a pleasant suprise. It has a lot of different styles, but they're always true to form. The album starts with "Major Trouble (from Ursa Minor)" a song about, what else, aliens zoomin' past Uranis ... and moves on to a suprisingly loungy "Sideways glance". From there is my favorite song on the album, a sweet rockabilly/country song "Badman" where our singer croons, "she's as happy as she can be with a bad man like me." That song along with "Western Springs" are great ballady type songs, but there are some great almost psychobilly sounding songs here too. "Stampede" will really get your foot tapping and you can almost smell the cows! then theres "Kill Krazy" in which the narrator kills his girlfriend ("maybe it was the way she cooked... she couldn't cook to save her own life") and "Mr. Knuckles Funeral March" by far the best song. When it comes to a good old fashioned rockabilly standard, is "I Have Drunk All My Troubles Away" complete with gulps in the bridge. I enjoyed this album a lot, these guys have the touch and they covered all bases with seeming ease.
-- A music fan from nj, C/O amazon.com