Coffin Draggers - Dying Breath

ARTIST: Coffin Draggers

ALBUM: Dying Breath

LABEL: Self-released

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

Horror punk is hard to pull off without crossing the line between camp and outright silliness. The Coffin Draggers do it by sticking more or less to one main theme; instead of running the gamut from zombies to vampires to slasher films, the bulk of the material on their debut full-length concerns itself with cemeteries and grave-digging in one way or another; on "Sorry For Your Loss," for example, lead singer Gator McMurder takes on the role of a possibly insane funeral home director, while "Dead Girls Don't Say No" is a deliciously clever ode to necrophilia. It's the musical chops that really count, of course, and the Coffin Draggers have that in spades (pun intended). "Welcome To My Garden" and the excellent "Dying Breath" lace gritty hardcore punk with spooky graveyard atmosphere, and "Dead Roses and Formaldehyde" is blistering mosh pit madness. The Coffin Draggers are often lumped into the psychobilly scene, but thankfully succumb to little of that genre's excesses. While "Cemetery Girl" and "Let's Die Together" definitely have a roots rock vibe underneath guitarist Jose S. Sleeping's blustery power chords, McMurder's gravelly vocals are more Lee Ving than Brian Setzer, and his upright bass-playing, especially in concert with the pummeling rhythms of drummer Robert Frank, are brutal enough to give any punk band a run for their money. There's a reason these guys are so huge in southern California's live concert scene, playing to ecstatic crowds at goth, punk and rockabilly venues alike: they're just that good. Between the gritty but tightly played death rock 'n' roll and the handsome DVD-style packaging, this debut was well worth the long, long wait.

Enter the cemetery at www.coffindraggers.com.