Bordertown Devils

Bordertown Devils [EP] (2016)

TomTrauma

Bordertown Devils are a five piece band that hails from the desert of Tucson, Arizona. Their self titled debut EP is six driving tracks of classic punk and rockabilly mixed with straight up rock and roll. At their best, they will remind you of a cross between the psychobilly of the Reverend Horton Heat and the horror punk of early Misfits. Singer Dennis Liguori certainly does his best to channel Glenn Danzig’s (via Elvis) howl. The songs are fast and and tend to have memorable sing along choruses. Opener “Rot N’ Roll”is good example of this, with its doo wop backing vocals that will have you trying to mimic the baritone (or maybe the bass) line.

Bordertown Devils 16 minutes fly by with the pedal to the metal. Most of the songs have blue collar themes about working hard and playing hard. “Count Me Out”and “Hell Cell”are both bashers.The guitar solos are bluesy and in the vein of Mike Ness. “Open”starts with a riff that could have come from an 80’s metal song. “Cash”is really catchy and uses the old analogy that compares paying your bar tab to dying. The lyrics are not exactly intellectual, but maybe that’s the point. This is almost certain to appeal to a certain subset of punkdom. You know the one. They dress in vintage clothes, ride custom motorcycles, work on hotrods and have flame tattoos.

Closer “Saturday Night” might even have just a touch of outlaw country twang. It’s a song about cutting loose after a long week on the job. The cover art is a nice touch and features a wicked cartoon chupacabra troubadour. Visually, the packaging really plays up the fact that they’re so close to the Mexico. This appears to be a newer band made up of older guys, and you can tell. It doesn’t feel like a young band trying to find its sound. Overall, this is a really solid start for Bordertown Devils.