Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds - Dracula Boots

I first met Kid Congo after he had joined the Cramps - I didn't get to see the first version of Gun Club - and besides bringing an insane amount of style and psychotic noize to the band (not an easy task, trying to fill Bryan Gregory's high-heeled shoes!), he was also an incredibly nice guy. He was always friendly and personable and we would chat whenever we would see each other out'n'about. I lost touch with him about the time he joined the Bad Seeds and, other than backstage at a Cramps show in the early 90's (thanks for reminding me, Kid!), I haven't seen him for decades. I was thrilled to find out that he would be playing in Las Vegas and had to pick up this limited edition re-issue of his current combo's debut record.

The Pink Monkey Birds kinda combine bits'n'pieces from all of the groups that Kid previously played in, but with a much more light-hearted feel and with a good portion of 60's East-Side garage and soul. Lyrically, the songs can get downright goofy at times ("I Found a Peanut"), but they keep hip, dance grooves and solid playing throughout.

Right from the start, "LSDC" opens with swingin' drums (great drum sound, too, with a super snappy snare), a simple, infectious fuzz guitar riff, some electronic, synthy noise, power chords and a somewhat buried narration from Kid. The afore-mentioned "I Found a Peanut" is silly, but has a great dance beat and a Seeds-like garage sound (and I realized the story line could be a sequel to "Don't Eat the Stuff of the Sidewalk"). "Hitch Hiking" is a ferociously heavy garage-punk stomper, "Funky Fly" is, indeed, kinda funky but is also buried in some wonderful sonic psychoses and washes of feedback that Congo is so good at, and another incessantly danceable drum beat carries you through the instrumental "Black Santa" (more amazing feedback here) until side one closes with the spooky Mexican folktale of "La Llarona", which sounds ghostly in its organ-led, surfy sparseness.

Shards of piercing shrieks stutter from Kid's guitar over yet another groovy surf/soul beat and waves of sound in "Pumpkin Pie", then surprisingly, "Bobo Boogie" is led by wah-wah-ed guitar (unusual for Congo) and neat guitar licks with more electronica, then back for more upbeat garage-y rock'n'roll in "Rare as the Yeti", "Kris Kringle JuJu" is practically a bass'n'drum dance tune and the finale, "Late Night Scurry" is an atmospheric, creepy-crawl with surfy, ringing guitar chords and movin' bass lines over which Kid narrates another tale, as if it were a Lynch-ian movie.

I would hope that no one would have too strong of expectations for Kid Congo, considering the variety of music that he has done over the years, but I don't think that this would disappoint fans of any of his previous combos. It's been on my turntable numerous times over the past week and I think this will certainly be one of my fave purchases of the year. Get it and by all means, see the PMB's in concert if you can!