Hickoids
Hairy Chafin’ Ape Suit (Saustex)Nearly a quarter century in the making, the Hickoids’ first full-length since 1989’s Waltz a Crossdress Texas jumps the temporal gap with the pickled temerity of a low-rent stuntman. During their booze-fueled initial run (1985-1992), no one could’ve imagined this renegade cowpunk outfit surviving with well-oiled purpose into 2013, but sobriety and maturity have only enhanced their vulgar vitality. Border town misadventure brands “TJ” as it travels from Tijuana to Matamoros on a diet of bad drugs, run-ins with the federales, and infatuation with a donkey lady to the tune of “Me & Bobby McGee,” while “Cool Arrow” translates the Mexican slang for asshole into a spaced-out pastiche of transistor Tejano and deep-fried steel guitar warble. “Side by Side Doublewides” suggests a utopian domestic arrangement. Fallen soldiers from Texas punk history figure heavily into the album’s narrative thread: A cover of the Loco Gringos’ “Fruit Fly” honors Pepe Lopez; Taco Land patriarch Ram Herrera is quasi-memorialized with a driving remake of the Happy Dogs’ “Stop It, You’re Killing Me”; and longtime Hickoids bassist Dick Hays gets his with “The Talking Hot Pants Blues.” As for Harry Chapin, one can only hope he would’ve gotten the joke.
This article appears in August 23 • 2013.
