Voodoo Trucker

Every now and then a band comes along that takes a few seemingly unrelated genres and finds a way to tie them together on an album; from the opening notes of "Billy's Dead," one's apt to have the lurking feeling of darkness until the tongue-in-cheek lyrics begin. San Diego's Deadbolt continues its tradition of theme-based recordings with Voodoo Trucker, an offering full of stories of death, curses, and truckers-gone-wrong. Imagine the Ventures playing spooky surf music behind a dry,Dragnet-style narrative of both supernatural tales and everyday trucker situations. Songs such as "the Mocker" and "Let's Truck" contain conversations as spoken through C.B. radios, while "Whereabouts Unknown" describes many C.B. radio terms and lingo over the top of clean, slinky guitar lines and a thick, driving bass. Because the approach, tempo, and key never changes throughout the album, there's not much variation, and a lack of any challenging guitar leads may leave some listeners flat; however, the music itself is more about creating a moody atmospheric background for the Edgar Allan Poe-like stories, and, on most of the songs, it comes together quite well. "Truck Driving S.O.B." is one of the more catchy tunes, characterizing the typical habits and lifestyle commonly associated with truckers, while "McGortsy" delves into a twisted tale of murder and bodies hanging from trees. A dark sense of humor accompanied with a stark musical landscape definitely makes this one of Deadbolt's more intriguing and entertaining releases. ~ Ian Trumbull|