I've written about Tav Falco before: much more than a psychobilly singer, he's a writer, dancer, actor, photographer and all-around renaissance man. He came to rock after witnessing the extreme live show of The Cramps, in which he recognized something of Antonin Artaud's theatre of cruelty. Next to the primitive energy of The Cramps and boorish hooliganism of The Meteors, Tav Falco's Panther Burns expressed psychobilly's stylish artistic side, approaching each concert as a theatrical performance. While still spontaneous and lo-fi in true punk spirit, they gradually softened their sound and included various musical styles like jazz, tango, country and blues. With the exception of their their latest, "Conjurations...", their albums are mostly comprised by covers. Their choice of songs here displays impeccable taste and wide musical knowledge. He touches on rockabilly (Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love"). jazz/lounge (Dean Martin's "Sway", Tommy Dorsey's "Music Maestro Please"), rhythm n' blues (Jimmy Witherspoon's "Lotus Blossom", Bobby Bland's "I'll Take Care of You") and 60's pop (the Honeycombs' "Have I the Right?" and Dion's "Born to Cry"). He even applies himself to two of his self-confessed all-time favourite Italian retro pop hits: Little Tony Ciacci's upbeat ye-ye "Cuando Vedrai la Mia Raggazza" and dramatic ballad "Guarda Che Luna" (by Fred Buscaglione). He does admirably well on the Italian songs - or maybe I only think so because I'm not familiar with the originals. The band is certainly proficient enough (this album's players include veterans Alex Chilton and Jim Dickinson as well as Jim Sclavunos from The Cramps and Nick Cave's Bad Seeds), but Falco's singing ability is quite limited. Attitude and confidence serve him well in "Funnel of Love", but he comes up short when faced with classics like "Sway" and "I'll Take Care Of You". Generally, while his covers are well chosen and performed, they neither improve on the originals nor add an extra dimension to them. His own compositions are more interesting, flirting as they do with tango ("Born Too Late", "Shadow Dancer") and cinematic Morricone-esque balladry ("Love's Last Warning"). Supposedly they're from a movie called "Shadow Dancer" but I can't tell if it's a real film or a hoax. In any case, a pleasant but inessential album.
**** for Funnel of Love, Quando Vedrai la Mia Ragazza, Born Too Late
*** for Invocation of the Shadow Dancer, Sway, Love's Last Warning, Born to Cry, Guarda Che Luna
** for Lotus Blossom, I'll Take Care of You, Have I the Right?, Music Maestro Please!, Shadow Dancer (reprise)
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