Daddy Giljoteen's debut album sounds like a
Brian Setzer-orchestrated rockabilly/blues/punk/hard rock hybrid. The music is irreverent but tight, bouncing up and about effortlessly with energy and cool charisma. The opener "Do the Skeleton" is a rollicking take on a serious subject, teen anorexia. It's lyrically adventurous, and musically you'll have a hard time getting the "oo-wee-oooh, do the skeleton" chorus or the
Dick Dale mariachi guitars out of your head once they're planted there. The immediate follow-up "John the Baptist" starts out as a lurid Delta blues, but after the raw opening, the band lurches back into irreverent
Reverend Horton Heat-style blues territory. The rest of the record is still solid and far above your standard fare, but the expectations set by this double-barrel explosion make it an impossible act to follow, and the band unfortunately cannot sustain it. Still, songs like "Train to Oradea" and "Allison Number 9" are memorable and exciting and would qualify on any other CD as highlights. Only the last two songs, the acoustic "Holy Land: The Reclamation" and "My Road-Song" fail to impress, the former being too long to sustain the slight structure, and the latter sounding murky and average after the high-voltage songs preceding it. Regardless,
Daddy Giljoteen's debut is impressive. Their self-dubbed "action blues" sound has unique elements to it, and both their songwriting skills and musical ability are miles above average. ~ JT Lindroos