What’s in a name? Not much this time. At least, not anymore. Metalbilly supergroup Headcat were originally named after the primary bands of its better-known members: Motörhead singer-bassist Lemmy and Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom. But even though Lemmy is deceased and Phantom is MIA, guitarist Danny B. Harvey has decided to gamely soldier on. So he’s recruited a new rhythm section and added the 13 to differentiate between the two acts (and emphasize his bad luck, one can only presume). To be honest, they don’t sound too bad; Harvey’s searing fretwork still walks the fine line between punk, metal and rockabilly — and he even does a pretty reasonable job of replicating Lemmy’s rusted-pipe rasp. New bassist Alan Davey (who also replaced Lemmy in Hawkwind, oddly enough) and drummer Paul Vezelis hold down the bottom end respectably. And the set list wisely hedges its bets with covers of Route 66, Suzie Q, Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight and Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On — with Jerry Lee Lewis’s niece Annie Marie Lewis singing backup. Fingers crossed that it’s enough to keep Lemmy’s speed-saturated corpse from rising out of the grave to kick Harvey’s ass.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “An exciting new incarnation of the rockabilly project originally created by Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister & Danny B. Harvey, and now featuring Lemmy protégé Alan Davey and Frantic Flattops drummer Paul Vezelis joining Harvey for another round of good rockin’! The album features all new recordings of both original tunes and killer covers plus guest appearances by Jerry Lee Lewis’s niece, Annie Marie Lewis!”
