Consumer Waste is the latest album by Austin Texas' The Ghost Wolves who are a Rock & Roll meets Psychobilly duo of Snarley Carley and Jonny Wolf.
The 10" Album opens with the spoken word intro to The Voice Of God (Damn It) telling Ghost Wolves to get the hell out of there town, before the Psychobilly rampage comes in, they tell us all about the evils of Consumer Waste, something we are all guilty of, are we all trash, do we take our own stuff to the landfill, or outsource that service, this is urgent with a list of typical crimes listed everything from Bow ties to Viagra.
666 Mankind 666 strafes us with psycho guitar, Carley tells us mankind is losing its mind, which is as sensible an answer to our current malaise as any, the phaser stun gun noises that fire over the guitar are brilliant.
Wage Slave is the normal down at heel complaint of the downtrodden working classes working for minimum wage, which of course in America has failed to keep up with inflation with spectacularly bad consequences, all the synth warbles battling with the rockabilly guitar, add to the pain of the downtrodden, they urge everyone to vote for a better future.
Pray to the Mystery you never know, it might give you a better future than the current outlook might suggest.
Baby's First Knife is it a switchblade or is it a paring knife, either way she's at that time of life that she needs a Knife, they tell us not to bet our lives on a doorknob, bad things are coming down the line towards us, with a hellacious riff ready to destroy.
Under Your Skin is where this song will get if you let it, you really should, you'll feel better about the sorry state of everything else, if you play this nice and loud those parasites might flee, curing your paranoia.
Back Against The Wall is where you need to be to save your skin, howls of pain and anger at all the homeless, the desperation of trying to survive among manifest inequality.
Edgar Gary was apparently the richest man in the cemetery yet had no wake or ceremony when he was put in his grave, this is slower less manic than the rest of the album, the piano line adds a sense of dramatic tension, the tale unfolds.
Reservation Dogs feels more experimentally louche, looking at the desperation of the Reservation Dogs, with some stunning slide guitar.
Who Are You/Who Am I isn't a pastiche of Who Are ya, sadly they don't scream You Wot at any point, but this seems to re-work an old rebetika tune to cool effect.
Pee Wee RIP is an affectionate tribute to Mr Herman and all the good and odd bit of bad he did in his life, with a steady rolling rocking beat, taking us back to the playhouse for one last visit.
Find out more at https://theghostwolves.bandcamp.com/album/consumer-waste https://www.facebook.com/TheGhostWolves https://www.theghostwolves.com/
