The Reverend Horton Heat “Smoke ‘em if You Got ’em” 1990. Sub Pop, German import. The Reverend was my first introduction to the 1990s revival of rockabilly (I’m not counting the 80s era Stray Cats) and he perfected the new genre of psychobilly for aging punks looking for hard-edge music but with a more grown-up (respectablish?) lifestyle and look.

We’ve seen the Reverend spread his psychobilly gospel several times over the years, the first for me was in the spring of ’93 at Club de Wash in Madison, WI (yet another concert venue that burned to the ground, this one in 1996). Honestly I do not remember much about that show, other than Jimbo, the upright bassist, hanging out near us at the bar and being generally hilarious and completely obnoxious.

“Smoke ’em if You Got ’em” was the band’s first full-length release, and in my opinion their most straight-forward, hard-hitting and rocking. The Reverend’s clever and dirty lyrics are a perfect complement to the vintage guitar sound, drums rivaling a speed metal band and the brutal slap of the upright bass. Songs like “Psychobilly Freakout” and “Bad Reputation” helped define the energy, look and sound of post-punk/grunge-era rockabilly and many bands have imitated them since.