Moondogs (the)
Moondogs (the) – Knocked Out Beat
Keiulia Records [1992]
Bottom Of The Glass – Cheatin’ Kind – I’m Dead – Jungle Rock – Lovin’ With The Shades Pulled Down – Black and Blue – Rock Island Line
The Moondogs, named after Alan Freed’s nickname, were Steve Szczeblowski (guitar and vocals), Jimmy Sutton (bass and vocals), Perry Lafine (drums) and Joe Brawka (piano and vocals). In 1992 the quartet released Knocked Out Beat, their sole album.
It opens with Bottom Of The glass, a solid rocker in the Blasters tradition.
The next song, Cheatin Kind, begins slowly with You Are My Sunshine, then bursts into a wild piano-led Rock’n’roll in the best Jerry Lee Lewis style. I’m dead is a good rockabilly with a slight Psychobilly edge on which the drums and the double bass blend exceptionally well. Nothing much to say about their cover of Jungle Rock except that it’s good and powerful. Lovin’ With The Shades Pulled Down is a heavy Rockin’ Blues akin to the Paladins. More surprising is Black and Blue. This song is different from the rest. It sounds like a Morrissey tune on a country beat.
Their version of Rock Island Line begins like a menacing blues with a spooky harmonica and then erupts in a jet-propelled Rockabilly.
After the Moondogs, Jimmy Sutton formed the Mighty Blue Kings, then The Four Charms.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis