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
Demented Are Go 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