The Shack

Bubba and his son Mac opened the famous Bubba Mac Shack in Somers Point NJ in early 2000. They envisioned a club of their own to bring together many of the great blues acts; including Bubba's own Bubba Mac Blues Band. A passionate musician, Bubba has traveled to many of the hallowed blues halls around the world. This influence was palpable in the flavor of the Shack's food, entertainment lineup and décor. Bubba and Mac's goal was to create a restaurant that was New Orleans meets South Jersey, upscale but down-home. The Shack built for musicians held five bars and three stages. Hundreds of nationally recorded blues acts including James Cotton,…..

As the opening track, "Agony Wagon," shuffles out of the starting blocks like some sort of hillbilly klezmer chestnut, complete with violin and clarinet, you can't help but wonder if the Legendary Shack Shakers have done a 180 for their second album, 2004's Believe. Further research confirms this isn't quite the case, but Believe does find this band of hot-wired Nashville maniacs adding a few more flavors to their usual gumbo of country, blues, rockabilly, and punk. Fiddles and horns add seasoning to a few tracks, the group musters up a shade more technical finesse than they did on their blasting debut, Cockadoodledon't, and the graceful waltz-time "The Pony to Bet On" suggests this band might actually have some subtlety lurking deep down inside of them. But for the most part Believe shows the Shack Shakers's instincts remain mercifully unchanged – they're here to kick ass and get wild, and man oh man, are they good at it.

The Legendary Shack Shakers have long been known for their knack for grinding up the most unstable aspects of American roots music forms, including redneck country, punk, honky tonk, swamp blues, garage rock, and primal rockabilly and serving them up in a dark, steaming, 200-proof cocktail of chaos. But "Melungeon Melody" and "Killswitch," the track that closes the album, are extreme even by Shack Shaker standards. Why they'd choose to open a set with a discharge of unlistenable noise is anybody's guess, but the rest of the album finds the band in its familiar, over-the-top mode.

After five years away from the recording studio, the Legendary Shack Shakers don't sound as frantic as they did back in the days of Cockadoodledon't, but their commitment to bad craziness below the Mason-Dixon line is as strong as ever, so the title The Southern Surreal is more than fitting. Instead of going for the breakneck psychobilly of their formative days, in 2015 the Shack Shakers continue to explore the swampy sound that dominated 2007's Swampblood as they ponder the more forbidding side of life in the deep South. Bassist Mark Robertson and drummer Brett Whitacre lay out a deep, implacable rhythm as guitarist Rod Hamdallah spreads echo-drenched guitar figures over it all and Col. J.D. Wilkes howls and moans his tales of booze, bad living, the walking dead, and other unhealthy phenomena of life along the riverbank (and occasionally tosses in some high-powered harmonica work). The band also brings along a few high-powered guests (including former Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison and sax player Ralph Carney, best known for his work with Tom Waits), and Billy Bob Thornton steps up to the vocal mike for a brilliantly creepy spoken word piece.

Shifting further away from the frantic blues and punkabilly than on their last album, the Shack Shakers morph into a more European, even Gypsy approach on much of this release. The band's third effort retains all the wild-eyed, frenetic, unhinged qualities that have by now become its calling card. Adding occasional piano, fiddle, horns, and banjo doesn't soften or dilute the overdriven intensity. Rather, it is heightened, as the barely half-hour disc careens and bounces along so breathlessly that most listeners wouldn't want the album to last any longer. Lead singer/harp player J.D. Wilkes remains the main attraction; he writes or co-writes all the songs and his often demonic vocals and frenzied harp shenanigans make this somewhat of a one-man project with lots of guests.

After killing Mrs. Voorhees, who was avenging her son Jason's death, Alice Hardy can finally sigh with relief. But there is just one problem.