Emerging from the rockabilly scene in their home base of Zurich, they recently turned down an invitation to be the Swiss Eurovision entry. Known to some for their mini-hit ‘Johnny Are You Gay?’, a recent retrospective has propelled them gigging across Europe, including TV shows and a tour supporting Jeff Beck climaxing at the legendary Paris Olympia. A viral Cinéma vérité video from that album has attracted over 50,000 views: http://youtu.be/bANSizYxh-w
A single ‘My Love For Evermore’ precedes the album, on 7” and download. It’s a dark duet by Emanuela and guest Spark Phillips of infamous, wayward psychobilly band Demented Are Go, assisted by Geraint Watkins on organ, and backed with a rockabilly guitar cover of ‘Enola Gay’. A new ‘Bonnie & Clyde style’ video was filmed over 3 days and will be launched on the single release date. Stills from the shoot can be seen here: http://on.fb.me/ia21CJ
The album is produced by Greg Townson of US band The Hi-Risers, and recorded in London at Gold Top Studio, Camden, last year. (Gold Top Studio has now relocated to Gravity Shack, Tooting.)
TRACKS: - Buy Beg or Steal, Broken Heart, She Kicked Me To The Curb, Natascia, Trouble & Strife, My Love For Evermore (with Sparky), Night of the Living Ted, Imagine A World, Goin’ To Milano, Touch Me, Rock’n’Roll Girl, Chalk Farm Breakdown, Enola Gay. 13 tracks.
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"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work up a plausible old-school sound these days—a few twangy guitars, a pile of echo, a sneering lead vocal on top, and presto, you're ready to rumble. There's a difference, however, between a true vintage-tinged update and another in a series of Eddie Cochran copycats. Which brings us to Hillbilly Moon Explosion, Zurich-based rock revivalists who've spent the past few years touring Europe, issuing a pair of acclaimed releases (2002's Introducing The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, 2004's Bourgeois Baby) while watching their fan base grow by leaps and bounds. Mind you, this is no quaint Sun Records send-up; at their best, HME— bassist/vocalist Oliver Baroni; rhythm guitarist/vocalist Emanuela Hutter; guitarist Duncan James and drummer Luke Weyermann—come across like a Sam Phillips-produced soundtrack to a Sam Raimi shock flick, a furious bed of slap bass and pounding snare underpinning layers of menacing guitar lines, wailing background vocals, and eerie keyboard flourishes, with front-woman Hutter providing the perfect aural/visual focal point, fishnet stockings and all.
When it came time to lay tracks for a third independent effort, head Hillbillies Baroni and Hutter eventually headed for the US and wound up at the door of producer-engineer Mark Neill, owner of San Diego's Soil of the South Studios, where it’s all-analog, all the time. One could not imagine a better match-up: Neill, a rockabilly bred Southerner whose client list includes The Paladins, Los Straitjackets and Old 97s, is a rock archeologist of the highest order and vast collector of choice old-school audio tools, who knows how to nail it down in just a few takes using as few tracks possible (the way it was before we all had too much time and tracks on our hands). In order to provide Baroni and Hutter with the proper instrumental framework, Neill enlisted the support of cohorts like guitarist Eddie Angel (of Los Straitjackets fame), sax man Archie Thompson and drummer Craig 'Flash' Packham, with Neill himself overlaying lead and rhythm guitars. The result is All Grown Up, a faithfully prepared (and mainly mono-mixed) amalgam of unbridled rock tracks that clock in at a Ramones-like two-and-a-half minutes apiece, featuring Baroni's saxes-with-axes classic "Live the Life," Hutter’s sensually exotic take on "House of Bamboo," not to mention a tour-de-force rendering of Mel Larson’s "Little Lil," with Baroni's lead vocals authentically distorting like a Little Richard 45. And in case anyone's forgotten what real country is supposed to sound like, there's the Baroni-penned "Brown Eyed Boy," a lilting Loretta Lynn pastiche that belies the murderous intent described within.
How good is this stuff? "To think that these guys came over to San Diego from Europe with a bunch of songs on acoustic guitar and absolutely nailed the vintage rock'n'roll sound—and made it contemporary," remarks the normally reserved Neill. "I've never seen that happen before."
Dave Simons, Rolling Stone Magazine.
Discography
Introducing The Hillbilly Moon Explosion (2002, Crazy Love Records)
Bourgeois Baby (2004)
By Popular Demand: The Basement Tapes (1999-2005) (2005, Crazy Love Records)
All Grown Up (2006)
Raw Deal (2010, The Freed)
Buy, Beg or Steal (2011, The Freed; Jungle Records)
Damn Right Honey! (2013, Goldtop Recordings/Jungle Records)
French Kiss avec Arielle Dombasle (2015, Mercury Records/Universal Music France)
With Monsters and Gods (2016, Jungle Records; The Freed; Cloud Hill)
The Sparky Sessions feat. Mark “Sparky” Phillips (2019, Freedonia; Jungle Records)
Enola Gay
The Hillbilly Moon Explosion Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You should have stayed at home yesterday
Oh, I can't describe
The feeling and the way you lied
These games you play,
Are gonna end in tears someday
Oh Enola Gay,
It's 8: 15,
And it's the time that it's always been
I got your message on the radio,
Conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay,
Is mother proud of little boy today
Oh this kiss you give
It's never ever gonna fade away
Enola Gay,
It shouldn't ever have to end this way
Oh, Enola Gay,
I should have faded our dreams away
It's 8: 15
And it's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio
Conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay,
Is mother proud of little boy today
Oh, this kiss you give
It's never ever gonna fade away
The song "Enola Gay" by The Hillbilly Moon Explosion is a haunting tribute to the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. The song begins with the singer addressing the plane itself, implying that its actions were so terrible that it should have stayed home instead of going out to cause destruction. The lyrics suggest that the singer cannot even begin to describe the feelings that the plane has stirred up, which is indicative of both the horror of the event and the complexity of the situation surrounding it.
As the song progresses, it becomes clear that the singer is addressing the pilot of the Enola Gay, asking how he could have lied about the conditions he saw and the consequences of his actions. The lyrics are ambiguous enough to be interpreted in a number of ways, but they could be seen as a condemnation of war and the way it dehumanizes people and makes them commit acts that they might not otherwise be capable of. The final lines of the song suggest that the singer wishes that the dream of a world without war had not been destroyed in the way that it was.
Line by Line Meaning
Enola Gay,
Addressing the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima
You should have stayed at home yesterday
Implying that the bombing was unnecessary and should not have happened
Oh, I can't describe
Expressing the singer's inability to fully convey their emotions
The feeling and the way you lied
Referring to the devastation and deceit caused by the bombing
These games you play,
Referring to the war and its destructive nature
Are gonna end in tears someday
Predicting the inevitable sadness and regret that will result from war
Oh Enola Gay,
Repeating the addressee's name as a way of emphasizing the tragic impact of the bombing
It shouldn't ever have to end this way
Asserting that war and destruction are unnecessary and avoidable
It's 8: 15,
Referring to the exact time when the atomic bomb was dropped
And it's the time that it's always been
Implying that the destructive nature of war is timeless
I got your message on the radio,
Referring to the communication between the plane and command center before the bombing
Conditions normal and you're coming home
Reflecting the callousness and detachment of the military in their execution of the bombing
Enola Gay,
Repeating the addressee's name again as a way of highlighting the impact of the bombing on innocent people
Is mother proud of little boy today
Questioning the morality and ethics of those involved in the bombing
Oh this kiss you give
Referring to the devastating impact of the bombing on the people of Hiroshima
It's never ever gonna fade away
Emphasizing the lasting impact of the bombing
I should have faded our dreams away
Reflecting the regret and sadness that result from the tragedy of war
Contributed by Charlie C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@graeabarth2227
As a huge fan of OMD since their start I think this is a brilliant cover of one of their most iconic songs. Well done 👍
@hurdygurdyguy1
Of all the covers of this OMD tune this is the best!!!
@danielcumming3785
Brings back memories of a better time. Awesome tune.
@georgzug6943
Super Cover Version, greetings from Germany
@jomontanee
Such a sparkling cover version.
@user-ym7he5od4z
GREETINGS FROM SALONIKA OF GREECE AND THE LITTLE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT LOVE THIS BAND AND ROCKABILLY!
@TheLegendaryTim
Love The Surf Guitar sound on this song, very Venture-istic!
@Ryattt81
been a long while since I listened to rockabilly/psychobilly...this band is amazing
@Mel_143
glad I "discover" this band, love their cover of one of the best songs ever
@soulman4692
Have heard it on Rockabilly-Radio...!!!