Review: Nine Pound Hammer - Kentucky Breakdown

Nine Pound Hammer remind me of both The Lazy Cowgirls and Doo Rag. Like the Cowgirls they create a whopping wall of Chuck Berry/Ramones guitar and the energy never wavers. Like Doo Rag they're a punk band playing warp-speed indigenous music with authenticity and, yes, respect. Given the chance both could win over genre purists. For Doo Rag that would be delta blues while Nine Pound Hammer play poop-kicking, chicken wire roadhouse country rock. Doo Rag were from Tucson so they had to be respectful at all times, but Blaine Cartwright (he also led Nashville Pussy) and Scott Luallen of NPH came from a small Kentucky town, so while they do write hysterically funny songs they're celebrating their way of life, and no sissy city-fugg can think they're better.

Kentucky Breakdown from 2004 is almost as good as their 1995 opus Hayseed Timebomb. Sometimes I think they're ZZ Top played at 78 rpm. I love this stuff. Not only do you want to scream "Yee-Haw!" throughout, it boasts a ton of memorable lyrics:

"So roll me a joint, fix me a turkey pot pie
It's just another damn day on the long wait to die
I'll pretend to care about all the things you tell me
If you just come on over, Rub Your Daddy's Lucky Belly"