TOUGH
GUYS CAN DANCE - Thee Psycho Delmatics (Off
the Hip)
To those who view the underground Melbourne scene as just another procession
of bands that rely upon '70s hard rock and/or punk as their sonic blueprint,
think again. Countless bands from the '"'Garden State" 
from
the '80s onwards have reached further back. I'm thinking the Corpse Grinders,
The Gas Babies, Intoxica, The Exotics, Hands of Time, who all drew upon the
'50s and '60s for inspiration. Yet another is quartet Thee Psycho Delmatics.
With their second LP (and first for Off the Hip) "Tough Guys Can Dance",
The Psycho Delmatics continue to prove why they are one of the few standout
bands in the Melbourne scene.
The title track opens things in a solid hard rockin' manner. "Thrill
Killers" begins to really lift the tempo, as vocalist Dave Delmatic sings
about some nasty chaps, out to kill for the thrill of it.
A theme song of sorts is "I'm a Psycho Delmatic", with some swampy,
funky jungle-'50s-meets-garage sound, topped with razor sharp guitar work
from Con Psycho. Another highlight is "The Squirm", which is almost
a diversion into Celibate Rifles-style garage rock. It's a song that ultimately
stamps itself as the band's own, thanks to Dave Delmatic's charistmatic, enigmatic
vocals.
"Spank the Monkey" has the band maintaining its hard rocking edge,
but getting so down and funky that they just might get a call-up from the
Godfather of Soul, Mr James Brown to lend him a hand. "Brand New Woman"
is a Sonics-inspired romp.
"Venus Fly Trap" might seem like revved-up 12-bar blues, but with
Dave Delmatic and the slashing rhythm section of drummer Joe Evil and bassist
Dick Darryl, at their best, it rises above.
Their killer take on the Sonics' "Strychnine" is no surprise. The
instrumental "Indy Cars-a-Go" closes the album and the band truly
revs things up.
"Tough Guys Can Dance" is another impressive effort from another
Melbourne band that doesn't just stick to the '70s.
- Simon Li
3/4
This album is described prominently as 'psychophonic rock'n'roll'. I was so
intrigued by this label (the music world can never have enough categories
... ) that I consulted a dictionary to see if it had a recognised meaning.
Adopting the more correct interpretation of 'psycho', psychophonic merely
refers to sounds of the mind. However, if we use the post-Hitchcock/Anthony
Bates interpretation, and give it an obvious rock'n'roll context, the term
describes music that has a psychotic edge. That seems far more appropriate.
Add in the mediaeval 'thee' prefacing the band's title, and you've got a recipe
for some seriously weird shit.
Like The Lime Spiders (especially in their later years), The Psycho Delmatics
exhibit an occasional tendency to straddle the line between hard rock and
pub metal ("Leave Me Alone", "Hell Fuels My Machine").
But before they reach that dangerous point on the musical spectrum, there's
plenty of potent pop, some gritty surf guitar ("The Squirm"), and
Venice Beach meets Chicago surf blues (Brand New Woman). And, just to show
there's more to the band that berating guitars and hollering vocals, (which
you'd almost guess would have to be metallic) "Spank the Monkey"
gives a much more funky feel than you'd have expected from a band asserting
its tough guy credentials. The album also includes a cover of the Sonics'
classic "Strychnine", delivered with more polish, and definetly
more metal, than the original garage version.
I also decided to listen to the album using the random function on my CD player
(as a rough rule of thumb, an album that sounds better played in random sequence
is a very good album). The result was more surprising than I'd expected –
the album seemed to have a more metal, less garage feel. Damned if I know
what this means; maybe it's just psychosomatic or, more likely, psycho delmatic.
Although the Psycho Delmatics assert boldly that tough guys can, contrary
to popular opinion, the main evidence I've seen of tough guys dancing is some
awkward white boy shuffling in suburban nightclubs. I don't know if they can
dance, but the Psycho Delmatics claim they're tough, and can certainly churn
out riffs powerful enough to arrest your attention.
- Patrick Emery