Brian Setzer hits hard with ‘Rock Boys Rock’, the high-energy opener and fourth single from his just released new album, The Devil Always Collects.
Penned by Setzer and frequent collaborator Mike Himelstein, the song is filled with fluid and sizzling guitar lines set against a galloping rhythm, alongside those distinctive vocals.
You can check out the video right here at RAMzine.
Last month saw the release of the red-hot title track to the album as a single. That to was written by Setzer and Himelstein. On that single, the three-time Grammy Award-winner burns up the frets of his instrument over an insistent, galloping rhythm and digs into his vocals with urgency and frankness while singing the lines: “You bargained for pleasure; fame, fortune, and sex; pay back! Knock, knock, knock, The devil always collects,” go the lyrics.
You can check out the official video for the single and a shorter one where Setzer talks about how he wrote the song right here at RAMzine.
His first full length record since 2021’s Gotta Have The Rumble, the eleven tracks on The Devil Always Collects are said to inject the roots of rock with a contemporary freshness that unites fans of rock, Americana, rockabilly, and punk. It was produced by Setzer and Julian Raymond and mixed by Chris Lord-Alg.
Tracks featured are: SIDE A: ‘Rock Boys Rock’, ‘The Devil Always Collects’, ‘Girl On The Billboard’, ‘The Living Dead’, ‘What’ll It Be Baby Doll?’ and ‘Black Leather Jacket’. SIDE B: ‘She’s Got A Lotta…Soul!’, ‘Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)’, ‘A Dude’ll Do (What a Dude’ll Do)’, ‘Psycho Suzie’ and ‘One Particular Chick’.
‘Black Leather Jacket’ was the previous single Setzer, about which he said: “‘Black Leather Jacket’ is the story of my black leather jacket I bought when I was 18. It followed the guy through his whole life. He wore a black leather jacket when he met his girl and then got into a crash. Til the very end he had a black leather jacket. I like the idea of it. Black leather jackets are very personal things. They’re something you keep. You don’t get rid of those. So one of the first ones I bought was probably down at St. Mark’s Place [in NYC]…But I still have one from England from the 80s. Surprisingly it’s a little small,” he added jokingly. “It must have shrunk. But I still take it out for a ride.”
Available digitally, you also check out the video for ‘Black Leather Jacket’ here at RAMzine.
Marking his first live shows in over four years, he will commence his Rockabilly Riot tour over in the USA this September, where he will be joined by, in his words, an “international rockabilly band, Chris D’Rozario from Melbourne, Australia and Juan Laurios from Mexico City, Mexico.”
With a 40-year career as a solo artist, leader of The Brian Setzer Orchestra and as a Stray Cat, Setzer is said to continue to play “with a jaw-dropping level of vigour.”
“I’ve had a pretty long break, and I needed it,” he said. “I’m renewed and really want to play live again. I want to just get out on the road with this kick-ass little three-piece band and start playing.”
He adds, “I think fans can always expect that I’m going to play the hits. I also want to play some solo guitar and little things I’ve worked out by myself. I’ve never really gotten to do that, so it’s going to be something new.”
Credited for taking two forgotten genres, rockabilly and swing, adding his own blend of gunpowder and rockin’ style, and completely reinventing and single-handedly resurrecting them in the process, Brian Setzer has scored chart-topping hits, sold 13 million records, received the Orville H. Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award, is in the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and has a best-selling, extensive line of elite Gretsch signature model guitars bearing his name.
Previously, the three-time Grammy Award winner released ‘Girl On The Billboard’ from the album as a single. “It’s an old truckers song,” remarked Setzer, about the song popularized in 1965 by country music singer Del Reeves. “At first, I wasn’t getting the sound I wanted until I picked up my Gretsch 1957 Duo Jet 6131 Firebird. I mean, the sound is monstrous, dirty and twangy.”
You can check out the animated video for first single ‘Girl On The Billboard’ here at RAMzine, and order The Devil Always Collects via Surfdog Records, and available digitally, on CD and vinyl, by clicking here.
