sound of the suburbs

I must say that in much the same way that Iggy Pop can be relied upon to get his wrinkled willy out on stage so can Hayseed Dixie be relied upon to deliver the goods when it comes to deep bluegrass cover versions of rock classics. This time round they have delved into one of Punk's classic albums for the opening track for their fresh on the shelves album 'Weapons Of Grass Destruction', don't you just love these sensitives boys way with words! The song in question is none other than 'Holidays In The Sun', band member Barley explains his thoughts behind this song by saying "I miss the Cold War. I think we all do, really. At least back then everybody had a clear and distinct picture of who was trying to whoop who. The Berlin wall was the concrete (literally) symbol of this certainty, and this song sums up the longing for those times of old quite perfectly. You know . . . it’s a nostalgia piece really." In musical terms it's much of the same stuff as can be found on their other albums, this version is about so far removed from the original that it almost sounds romantic! I guess it's pretty much a case of you'll love it or hate it, as for me it put a smile on my face, and with the state of my the back these last couple of days that can't be such a bad thing, though I will say that I still prefer the panzer like XXX full strength version that made sure we weren't sleeping while listening to 'Never Mind The Bollocks'.
The band will be taking their energetic live shows just about everywhere this summer including the home of heavy metal festivals, Donnington and excluding France. I can't think of a better way to spend a summer evening than watching these bastard sons of the Dukes of Hazard bashing away with their mandolins and banjos while nursing a glass of warm cider!