After
Psychedelic Jungle
,
the Cramps
experienced personnel and record label difficulties; they would not release another studio album until this one, four years later. Gone here are the tinny sound quality and horror-flick-based lyrics of prior releases, replaced by clearer sonics and an often hilarious obsession with sex (examples of the latter can be found on
"What's Inside a Girl?,"
"The Hot Pearl Snatch,"
"Cornfed Dames,"
"(Hot Pool of) Womanneed,"
"How Far Can Too Far Go?,"
and the uproarious single
"Can Your Pussy Do the Dog?"
). There are numerous sly references in the verses to high and low cultural icons, including "Shake it one time for me" (a line from
Jerry Lee Lewis
'
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"
), "I'll be dancing through the flames/Like a devil in disguise" (a nod to the
Elvis Presley
hit), and "Now there's more things in Tennessee/Than is dreamed of in your philosophy" (a paraphrase of a line from
Shakespeare
's
Hamlet
). Most of the songs here are in various
rockabilly
-derived styles featuring either
garage rock
fuzz or
Duane Eddy
twanging guitar from
Poison Ivy
. Vocalist
Lux Interior
is in excellent form here, exhibiting a fair bit of variety within his usual 1950s-derived approach.
"Kizmiaz"
is unique in the band's oeuvre, being a smarmy parody of 1960s hippie feel-good music;
Ivy
joins
Interior
on vocals here. Intonation is off in a few numbers (notably on
"Kizmiaz,"
and
), but this is not enough to detract from the overall excellence. This rollicking and energetic platter in particular is the equal of any in their canon, and an essential listen. ~ David Cleary