Upon reading about The 69 Cats in the pages of Vintage Rock magazine a couple of months ago I felt compelled to buy their first album, the newly released Transylvanian Tapes. A self-confessed gothabilly outfit The 69 Cats are supergroup of famed new wave, goth and rockabilly musicians. It is the side project for past and current members of Head Cat, The Cramps, Blondie and The 69 Eyes, this is an all-star line-playing fun, kitsch goth rockabilly.

The album kicks off with a fantastic cover of The Doors' "People are Strange," the track played in the vein of the original with the addition of Jyrki 69’s Elvis-like crooning and Danny B. Harvey’s rockabilly riffing. The covers that follow are performed in a similar style not really straying far for the originals. Jyrki 69's eerie low vocal tone really gives the songs a point of difference from the originals. That being said Transylvanian Tapes doesn’t have the intensity that made the musician’s original bands great and sounds very formulaic. With little variation, the songs start to sound the same with the album great cover choices and tight playing keeping the listeners attention.

With only two original tracks on the album (both of which are instrumentals), the remaining 11 tracks are covers. They covers great songs from the '50s through to the '80s, everything from Elvis, Johnny Cash to Duran Duran and Bauhaus. Their Duran Duran cover of "Girls on Film" is a fun novelty, hearing the song played in the gothabilly style adds a sinister overtone to the tune. The brooding vocals on the track help to give the song a horror film theme suggesting the impending doom or seduction of a femme fatale.

The original compositions stand out on the album and help to give the album a unique theme. "69 Guitars" is a real stand out with the surf rock meets goth sound, similar to The Munsters theme song. The album is far from ground breaking although it is fun listen for fans of The Cramps, Nekromantix and Tiger Army.