The Villenettes’ debut long player, Lady Luck, reassures that Adelaide’s proud tradition for rock’n’roll lives on. The Villenettes play rock’n’roll through a garage, rockabilly lens. From the moment Devil’s Inside kicks in, you know the album’s gonna pack the punch of a slab of Cooper’s Sparkling on a dry, summer’s day; just under three minutes later, and Gravedigger takes you into a darkened cemetery with a handful of Cramps records.
In My Head takes off in the direction of The Venturas, stopping occasionally to genuflect toward Lena Lovitch, and Burn creates its own special hole in the ozone layer of contemporary rock’n’roll. Run For Life has a sweet façade, and you wonder if you should get into that car or hightail it to safety; Jerk Song is the manic journey down Main North Road in a hotted up Commodore.
Psycho Nanna is crying out to be the soundtrack to the local rock’n’roll retirement village; Zombie would probably fit in that environment well, though maybe not on the promotional material. Set You On Fire has a certain pyromaniacal attraction; Lady Luck’s Swinging Southern Jukebox Joint casts its gaze into the corner of the deserted bar, and finds beauty just beneath the surface of emotional damage. And, after ten minutes of silent contemplation, there’s 90 seconds of killer Dick Dale surf guitar to ride the album out. This isn’t lady luck – it’s deliberate, and pretty damn good.
BY PATRICK EMERY
