Who would have figured the man who brought us the world's most potent
"Psychobilly Freakout"
back in 1992 would be helping to share in the joy of the holiday season a mere 13 years later?
We Three Kings
is a set of 12 classic
Christmas
tunes (with one new original added for good measure) whipped into a nervous froth of twangy guitar and rolling drums by
Jim Heath
and his partners in crime, and without question this is the most user-friendly
Reverend Horton Heat
album to date. The Right Reverend makes with the big, frantic
rock
on several tunes, most notably a Caped Crusader-infused cover of
"Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"
and a fifth-gear charge through
Chuck Berry
's
"Run Rudolph Run,"
but the real surprise is that the trio plays it relatively straight on a number of cuts, including a placid stroll through
"Silver Bells"
and a weepy cover of
"Pretty Paper."
Even the sole original tune,
"Santa on the Roof,"
is awfully sedate by
Heath
's standards, and this may well be the first
album without a single mention of gin or loose women. But
's guitar skills are still sharp, and he gives his
jazz
and
country
licks a bigger workout this time out, while
Jimbo Wallace
Scott Churilla
are allowed to show a bit more subtlety as a rhythm section than usual. In short,
is that rarity, a
album you can play in front of your parents and younger siblings without offending or frightening anyone, and isn't family togetherness what the season is all about? Besides, this still rocks a whole lot harder than
Kenny G
or
Mannheim Steamroller
could ever manage in their wildest dreams. ~ Mark Deming