The Lost Tapes
The Bop Kings
Released February 26, 2024
Record Label, Rumble Road Records
Columbus, Georgia
Reviewed date 25/07/24
The Bop Kings are a side project from The Barnyard stompers. They hail from Texas and that is the sound here, it's the feeling you had when you listen to the debut from Presley and many others from the early Sun sessions . This album leans heavily on the original type of line up (i.e. no drums) with the slap bass pulsing the vibe and rhythm on each track, with acoustic guitar adding the platform for the lead and vocal arrangements. It has that country and western swing influence that helps the rockabilly shine through. This release follows on from their earlier self titled album from 2023.
Members of the Band , The Bop Kings have Casey Miller (Vocals, Acoustic Guitar) of Barnyard Stompers, and is rounded out by Mike Nesloney on vocals and electric guitar and Johnny Mendez on upright bass. The Lost Tapes is full of alt-country/rockabilly music that will appeal to fans of 1950's era rockabilly / rock n roll.
Track by track Review
01 Broken dreams
Broken Dreams starts the album and has a great ‘Vegas’ night drive feel that has been mixed with a more traditional billy bopping chorus. You can feel the desert wind brushing your face as you head off into the sunset in a car with bigger fins than the Shark in Jaws.
02 I’m Gonna Fool My Heart Again
Upbeat song of pure bop a billy ( Is that a genre?) good sing- along tune and nice traditional harmonies. We've all been heartbroken and lonely but this guy is a sucker for love and picks up his broken heart from the ground and blows out the desert sand to embrace a new love. But we all know about the impending future heartbreak and the emotional turmoil that will soon follow as he suffers a face full of cactus needles as a result.
03 Boo Hoo
This is a good midtempo song of wallowing in country music loss with a man crying from a broken heart. It has that classic Elvis 56 start and some nice Scotty Moore style licks throughout. He’s on his knees , please girl pick up that colt revolver and put him out of his misery. Cheer up mate and have a beer I say!
04 Ain’t Going Fishing
Grab your partners and let's get on the floor to dance to this great little bopper. God and fish make for interesting company especially if they are dancing together. But this Bible belt bopper is a really good track.
05 I Should Have Left You
A nice stomper that moves along and makes you feel like you're listening to an old Sun recording session. These guys pull it off well and the vocal refrains are classic elvis nicely recorded and give the listener that familiar feel.
06 All Night
This is my favourite track on The Lost Tapes. Each musician shines , lovely slap bass sound and solo and the guitar solo really digs in and lifts the track, and those shoutback vocals are great. I can imagine this as a track that ends a live set.
07 Crying' Alone
A sad tune about a man in the Texas heat longing for his lost love and regretting what we have all experienced in our lives. It has that early Elvis feel. Along with all this record it's a great copy in style and feel of 50s early Sun but I'm glad to see that these are original songs , and are more than a homage to that style.
08 Auctioneer Song
This is a really good track to end this album on. It has the vocals emulating the fast patter of an Auctioneer. Not sure if I am buying Steers or Apple pie but it's a good tune and you will get tongue tied singing along
Summary
I really liked listening to this mini album. It's a throwback to the 50s in sound, song and production. All the tracks sound great and the band are excellent musicians. The experience they have playing together in the barnyard stompers helps make this release a fun and high quality release.
Recommendation
I would recommend the The Lost Tapes for fans of alt-country/rockabilly music and especially those that are fans of 1950's era rockabilly / rock n roll. Good stuff of its type played well. What’s not to like !
PS: Check out The Barnyard stompers if you like things a bit more rough n ready nothing like a bit of ‘Outlaws with chainsaws’ it's more spit and sawdust but with the sawdust being blood soaked (repeatedly)
Review by Ed Razor
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