Delaney Davidson – Self Decapitation Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers – The Kneeanderthal Sounds Of… (both Voodoo Rhythm) Two new releases from the Swiss-based Voodoo Rhythm label and not an Alpine Horn to be heard – thank fuck. First off it’s the wandering Kiwi, Delaney Davidson, who you may have spotted presenting his one man show in support of T-Model Ford or Holly Golightly. I’ve seen both those two on various occasions, but my timing must be off as this is my first contact with Davidson, and frankly, I’m kicking myself. Davidson’s debut is swampy blast of battered brass, spidery post-punk strings and proto-gothic-rock-n-roll. His voice, somewhere between an Anglicised, latter-day Dylan and Tom Waits’ death rattle, is tailor-made to tell a story, mostly his own. The few covers, include the traditional “In The Pines”, last heard sung by folk chanteuse Sarah McQuaid, though not like this. Davidson brings out the songs inner-dirge, with one eye on Lead Belly and the other stashed away for safe keeps. Listen out for the single “Around The World”. You can’t miss it. It begins like a New Orleans funeral march played at the wrong speed, before settling comfortably into horror-spaghetti-western-soundtrack territory. You’ll like it. Mr. Slim and his Knee Tremblers are Voodoo Rhythm stalwarts. Their latest opus, the splendidly titled Kneeantherthal Sounds Of… (see what they did there? LOL, LMFAO, oh my bursting sides, etc.), their fourth for the imprint, is everything that a label that boasts to be “the home of primitive rock ‘n’ roll” should require from a band. It’s like the evolution of popular music ended sometime in 1956, and Rockabilly is therefore the ultimate form of musical expression. They’ve got a point. It’s difficult to not to be moved by the purity of the classic Rockabilly trio; double bass, single drum and a square guitar – what is there not to like? This lot are from London, and a quick look at their MySpace page indicates a full schedule gigging around the capital’s seedier hostelries. It would be shame to miss them. www.myspace.com/delaneyfdavidson www.myspace.com/hipboneslim Rob F. Next