Reverend Horton Heat
Revival (Yep Roc)He may not be the fire-breathing hellion of old, but Revival reaffirms the Reverend Horton Heat’s status as elder in the church of Southwestern swing. Certainly the Dallas trio’s maiden offering for Chapel Hill’s Yep Roc – the label they should have been on all along – does nothing to foment doubt among the faithful. There’s “New York City Girls” for the jitterbuggers, “Octopus Mode” for the psychobilly freaks, and “Rumble Strip” plus the title cut for both. Good ol’ Jimbo Wallace, the one and only Nature Boy, walks all over his bull fiddle more than Barry Bonds walks to first base, while Gorilla Scott Churilla stalks the beat like a Brylcreem bloodhound. As for the Rev. Heath, he’s come a long way from his “Bales of Cocaine” days, preaching against the evils of narcotics on “Indigo Friends” and walking the same solemn country gospel line as the great John R. Cash on “Someone in Heaven.” But this ain’t no sit-down prayer meeting: Tim Alexander’s piano on “Party Mad” gets everyone dancing in the aisles, Killer-style. It’s OK … go ahead and ask your cousin to cut a rug. A bonus DVD yields three live shots from 2002’s return to form, Lucky 7, plus a short doc of the Rev revisiting his Deep Ellum haunts, remembering the times he didn’t know if he’d be following Hüsker Dü or a fashion show, but ready to go to town either way. (Reverend Horton Heat plays Antone’s Saturday, July 31.)
This article appears in July 23 • 2004.