Review Summary: Pajama Rockabilly never sounded so sweet.
The Polecats, founded by vocalist Tim Polecat in 1977 with the help of "Boz" Boorer (guitarist and vocalist) made it big with the success of the LP "Polecats Are Go!". They are a Rockabilly band and were the driving force for the rockabilly revival scene of the late 70's and 80's. After this EP was released "Boz" left to become cowriter and guitarist for Morrissey.
This EP contains four original songs, two covers and one remix. Let me start off with the original songs. The Polecats were known for their fresh and energized take for the classic genre. Adding a sense of punk and sparking a multitude of bands to follow on their footsteps. Their arguably most famous song, "Make A Circuit With Me" may be their cheesiest song, but they do it well. It has a perfect balance of infectious guitar work, danceable beat and cheesy lyrics about love through electricity. Their most gritty song "Rockabilly Guy" may be their most aggressive tune but also has that danceability factor that the title track has. The highlight of the song maybe the instruments, the standup bass player really goes the extra mile to back the band meanwhile the guitarist brings the aggressiveness into the mix, Tim's voice matches perfectly with the song as he sings at a faster pace than the rest of the songs on the EP. The only low point of the original songs is the Rockabilly Guy remix, it is extremely out of place, it simply does not make sense and it just seemed like an outlet for needless experimenting.
The cover songs consists of a T.Rex cover, "Jeepster", and a David Bowie cover, "John I'm Only Dancing". These renditions are near perfect. Polecats make a great effort to stay true to the source material meanwhile making it their own. With 'Jeepster', The Polecats really hit the ball with cover, they emphasized the upright bass and put a extra kick in the song. It sounds bouncy and it just makes you want to go dancing. Tim makes a great performance and tribute to the late Marc Bolan, the singer for T.Rex. It is an all around great cover with all the members seemingly playing the song with ease and joy. The other cover is a song originally done by David Bowie, "John, I'm Only Dancing", again the Polecats made the song their own everything flows so neatly, the instruments, Tim's singing. The Polecats were influenced by many acts of the 70's and with these covers it was obvious. It sounds so natural that you might even think that both of the covers were originally done by them.
All of the songs on this EP are near perfect except for the remix song that didn't make any sense. The instrumentation, the vocals, the sense of punk flavor that brought life back in a classic genre. The influence of the short lived Polecats cannot be overlooked. It is refreshing to listen to a new take of music from the fifties and the sixties.
