Demented Are Go
's debut album sounds as ferocious today, more than two decades after its release, as it did when it first slammed onto a nation's turntables in the mid-'80s and proceeded to rewrite everything that one expected from a simple
psychobilly
act. The ride begins with a mutant revision of
"Be-Bop-A-Lula,"
rewiring
Gene Vincent
through the bones of
Elvis
, and then rockets on from there, mashing the group's traditional love of off-the-wall lyricism (
"(I Was Born A) Busted Hymen,"
"Transvestite Blues,"
"Rubber Love"
) fed through with some of the most authentic
rockabilly
riffs this side of 1960. And, in the midst of it all,
the Osmonds
'
"Crazy Horses"
is all but unrecognizable, with screams instead of keyboard squeals and a rhythm that burns rubber. Arguably, kicking off their career with such a magnificent disc could have left
at a serious disadvantage for the rest of their lives. Fortunately,
In Sickness & In Health
was no fluke. But it is still their undisputed classic. ~ Dave Thompson