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BIG JOHN BATES :
MYSTIKI

As of late, I have found a new musical passion, a dirty little sub genre of Punk (or Rock, depending on your view) that I had only given moderate attention to in the past, and that is the bizarre world of Psychobilly and Rockabilly. Even better, is when it is filled with horror references and hot scantily clad girls! The latest band to land on my radar is Canada's own "Big John Bates", or when they're performing live, "Big John Bates and the Voodoo Dollz". Let me explain, the core group, the music makers, are Big John Bates on guitar and vocals, and the gorgeous sCare-oline on the upright bass, the drum position seems to revolve between "Kermit" and Ricardo "Slim Jim" Calderon, with Stuart "L'il Bastard" Quayle handling the live skin duties. However, also appearing in the live show are the bad girls of burlesque, known as "Jailbait Jenny" and "Rowdy Rosie"! So you know you're in for a good fuckin' time at a Big John Bates gig. But, let's look at the music shall we? "Mystiki" is the band's second full-length, their first, "Flamethrower" was released in 2001. The music of BJB is in the mid-paced Rockabilly vein, but often crosses over into the realm of Quentin Tarantino approved Surf music. At times, you would swear that Big John is the bastard child of guitarist Kirsty "Poison Ivy Rorschach" Wallace (the Cramps) and the "Reverend Horton Heat". There are lots of cool horror themed songs for those of us who like it dark, songs such as; "Crankenstein", "Pure Evil", and "(Waltz of the) Vampire Lezbos" are just waiting to be showcased at your next Halloween bash... or for some of us, on a regular Saturday night. The music is full of deep base tones, howlin' vocals, catchy beats, and it all shows more attitude than Megadeth's Dave Mustaine on a crack-induced bender! The songs that really do it for me on Mystiki, are the slightly faster numbers such as the kick-ass "Bad Girls Go to Hell". Another highlight of the disc is a cool, Rockabilly version of Soft Cell's 80s classic "Tainted Love". I know you've heard everyone cover this tune from Marilyn Manson to Coil, but you've never heard it like this. A joy of a disc, but what we really need from the band is a live DVD, so that those of us that can't catch a gig, can get some idea of what it would be like to witness BJB and the Voodoo Dollz in the flesh. If ya feel the need to get to know Big John a little better, you can find him on line at, you guessed it, bigjohnbates.com.
RATING = 7.5 Rockabilly (Released 2003)

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