The Top Fuellers

The term ‘supergroup’ is usually associated with musicians from established bands joining together to create what (to some ears) is unlistenable music e.g. ELP, or more recently, and very listenable, Them Crooked Vultures. So bearing in mind its usual conations you might wonder how The Top Fuellers (A five piece consisting of members of Optic Nerve, The Highliners, The Spacewasters, Klingonz and a fair few others) feel being referred to as a ‘supergroup’ and associated with the aforementioned.

A guess is they couldn’t give a stuff. Psychos On The Beach is a pretty deft blend of Psycho and Rockabilly, with some garage and elements of punk lobbed in for good measure. What’s obvious as you listen to the album is that there’s a real sense of we just want to do what we want and play the music we love.

As such they aren’t bound and it’s a more varied album than the brace of overtly Psychobilly openers (Psychobilly Hair and Truth Be Told) would suggest. Hot Rod Drags is a bubble-gum bopper, while La Notte Dei Serpenti takes Morricone’s Wild West themes and plays with it a bit. They do punk things up on Psychos On The Beach and Last Word. Oddly enough the overall sound of Snakebite brings to mind The Goodies musical interludes.

Lyrically they’re having ball as on the aforementioned Snakebite and the possibly (intentionally?) provocative The Nun’s Got Plums! The production is effective and the performances are top notch all round. Versatile too, the hidden version of Whiskey and Beer is jazz with the aroma of dark, smoke filled bars and bourbon, in contrast to the hillbilly twang of the original.