The Tip Top Trio
Daddy-o / Git’ Cat / Red Hot / Don’t Pretend / I Hate L.a. / Rockabilly Rocket / Dream Girl / You Won’t Say It / Besame Mucho / Rockabilly V.d. / Betty In A Sweater / Shut Your Mouth (feat. Melissa Callaway) / Move, Move, Move
It’s very disappointing to discover an exciting new band and in the same time hear the news of their demise. Though the Tip Top Trio didn’t officially break up, they slowly retired from playing live. At least we have their hot debut album.
This drummerless trio plays a brand of rockabilly solidly anchored in the fifties but often played at a frantic pace with here and there a strong touch of neo-rockabilly. The whole thing is very well recorded with a very clean sound (you can distincly hear each instrument and both the bass lines and the slap !), but clean doesn’t mean sterile, don’t be afraid. Another strong point is that these are all self penned songs, with the exception of Besame Mucho. But the most important is that each of them can sing lead which adds a lot of variety all through the 13 sides of this record. In the same way, the b-vox are rich with “question and answer” type of songs. Talking about singer, let’s not forget Melissa Callaway who guests on “Shut Your Mouth”. And with the lyrics included in the booklet you can yourself sing with the band.
A solid debut album, played by three talented musicians with a good and fresh attitude. Nice job boys, so don’t hesitate to go out of retirement and make another one in a not so far future.
Find it at cdbaby.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
