Wild Evel And The Trashbones - Digging My Grave

Austrian garage punks Wild Evel And The Trashbones have thankfully made it back into the studio five years after their debut LP Tales From The Cave, coming up with Digging My Grave to stun the world a second time. The star performers at the very first Hipsville haven't been completely silent in the intervening years but to finally have 13 (pretty much) new tracks from the boys is very welcome indeed.

Okay, so track one ('Der Bucklige') is a tiny instrumental. That still leaves a round dozen to wig out to. Indeed after that ode to hunchbacks everywhere the title track pushes all the right garage punk buttons.

Track four, 'The Mess I'm In', first came out on 7" five years ago, a couple of songs later the band do a so-so cover of 'Ain't It Hard' & straight after that song number seven is a re-recorded version of their 2011 homage to garage maestros The Satelliters, 'Why Can't We Be'. The original in this case is in many ways better but for whatever reason they've felt the need to do it over.

None of which really detracts from the album overall or the actual quality of the songwriting. Their cover of Willie Dixon's '300 Pounds' is suitably cartoonish to make up for any minor failings elsewhere. Live all quibbles will easily be swept aside too.

The rawness which Wild Evel And The Trashbones bring to the airwaves with Digging My Grave is the sort welcomed by those of us appreciative of a far less polished & smoothed over approach to music making. A basic sound for the primitive in you.    

The quartet played a couple of UK dates in the run up to the album's release but here's hoping they make it over again & further North in the coming months (Franklin Fest Four in the summer maybe?). 

Digging My Grave is available from bandcamp here.