This review was brought to you by the letter W:

Ahhh... 1997. The swing craze. I could still smell your parents walking in to my record shop. Your dad, complete with his pink Lacoste shirt with the little alligator on it (who said pink on a guy wasn't hip?) your mom with her "looks like a shoe but feels like sneakers" walked in just ready to jump in on the swing craze.

Now what pisses me off doesn't have anything to do with the meticulous kings of hip, the Amazing Crowns, but the fact that when this LP first came out it was placed in the "swing section".

Let's face it kiddies, punk has a shitload to owe to rockabilly. Let's analyze: Punk starts with the Ramones ( no argument, look it up or ask Legs McNeil) who have rockabilly/surf drumming laced into their lunges. The Ramones, heavily influenced by the Stooges ( who also have rockabilly in their veins, besides other things) start a whole new wave of sound closed in to a future genre all to itself.

So , oh yeah the Amazing Royal Crowns. Allmusic.com lists them as Punk revival but theres no punk here. No ska or swing here either but there are horns and nothing more than the most brutal and amazing sound you ever layed your hands on.

The self titled LP starts off with "Shivering In The Corner" and brings you into a Pulp Fiction-esque void that even if you wanted to, couldn't leave. " Do The Devil" leaves you doing the mashed potato in your Dodge Expresso, doing 110 down Main Street with the strange urge to run over small animals. The rest of the album carries itself, only to be placed in the favorites section of your lair.

So I end this review with no intention of a history lesson, no disrespect to any of you guys out there that like pink Lacoste shirts ( second thoughts follow on that one) but only a suggestion to all you motherfuckers who want to hear something different for a change. nullAMAZING CROWNS