Punkabilly
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Punkabilly is punk's broader rockabilly collision: slap bass or walking bass, twang guitar, train-beat drums, shouty vocals and songs that borrow from country, surf, roots rock and bar-band rock-and-roll. It is usually less horror-specific than psychobilly and more punk-driven than traditional rockabilly revival. The appeal is speed plus swing: punk attitude with enough roots rhythm to make the songs move differently.
History
The Cramps, X, Social Distortion and The Gun Club opened punk toward rockabilly, country and roots influences without becoming revivalists. Reverend Horton Heat, The Living End, The Quakes, Koffin Kats, The Peacocks and Nekromantix later pushed the hybrid into faster, more scene-defined forms. Punkabilly became a useful umbrella for bands too punk for rockabilly purists and too rootsy for straight punk, especially in touring scenes built around cars, tattoos and upright bass.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- AllMusic cowpunk/psychobilly/rockabilly-punk notes
- Reverend Horton Heat and Social Distortion biographies
- punkabilly scene coverage
- roots-punk histories