“I listen to most kinds of music except for Country and R&B” is a phrase I keep hearing far too often. While listening to (contemporary) R&B gives me as much pleasure as pouring three day old vomit straight into my eardrums, I have always defended the merits of country music as a genre. What about artist like Tom Waits or Nick Cave? Country & blues form the foundation of their sound. The retort to this would usually be “Yes, but Tom Waits and Nick Cave technically fall into the alternative genre and only incorporate a bastardised version of country, as well as countless other musical styles”- Touché...

Enter Graveyard Train, self proclaimed pioneers of Horror Country, a genre they claimed to have forged deep within the fiery pits of hell itself. It’s definitely not the kind of music that would serve as a backdrop to hillbilly truckers attempting to sleaze onto illiterate waffle waitresses at a diner in somewhere in the Midwest. These boys seem more at home at an abandoned alligator trapper’s shack, built on top of an ancient Indian burial ground deep within the heart of the swampiest swamp that ever swamped. Last time I was in Graveyard Train’s hometown of Melbourne, I did not fail to pick up on the distinctive absence of swamps. However with stage names like Scarecrow Bone Marrow and Governor Shinbone McDagger, it’s quite apparent that the outfit deliver their grim tales of horror and woe with tongues planted firmly in cheeks.

The Drink The Devil and The Dance



, Graveyard Train’s third LP in as many years is the sound of six manly men playing traditional instruments such as the banjo, lap steel, dobro and upright bass. Rambunctious drunken sing along choruses and call and response chants are in abundance, with each of the six members also taking on vocal duties. Some of the hooks are sure to get buried deep into your skull like a flesh eating maggot, but it’s the lyrical content that really makes this album. The subjects covered range from traditional horror themes such as werewolves, mummies, ghost trains and witches, each given a morbidly humorous twist. “The Bones Do The Work” is a magnificently warped tune about the inevitability of death, featuring such uplifting sentiments as “The dog eats the cat/ the cat eats the bird/ the bird eats the worm/ and the worms eat you and me”. “Run Billy Run” is another highlight. Sounding like an evil barn dance complete with a crooked folk fiddle, the song somehow manages to incorporate the flying monkeys chant from the Wizard of Oz. I nearly burst out laughing the on the bus when I heard it for the very first time.

What really comes as a surprise are the moments of genuine poignantcy on the album. “Lay To The West” is about wearied traveller that finds his doom in the wilderness. “The Ferryman” tells of the tormented existence of lost souls rowing endlessly until the end of time. The instrumental section adorned with violins and cellos sounds truly moving.

Consensus: Graveyard Train are sure to put the fear of the devil into anyone that has no respect for country music. The Drink The Devil and The Dance is an immensely entertaining album that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but is also impossible to dismiss as pure novelty. For all the horror themes, Graveyard Train rarely come across as cheesy and prove that they can express deep emotion just as effectively.

Review Score: 9/10