Backed by some of his own, “masculine” line-ups, (Thee Milkshakes, Thee Mighty Caesars …), The Delmonas show the feminine side of Billy Childish.
Though I can’t say that I’ve heard most of his super-creative output, it sure sounds like some of these tracks, originally released throughout mid-to-end eighties, must be some of his composing highlights, putting two opposite sides of the mid-sixties, the garage punk aesthetics and the innocent girl group sounds, against each other.
The album opens with the, Cramps-ized Stooge-fuzz-fest I Feel Alright, not really promising what I now consider one of the best female-sung records ever. Besides this one, there’s a coupla more cover-mutants, like the Chris Andrews written Sandie Shaw tune, Heard About Him, sounding like a garagey Shangri Las demo or the Beach Boys’ Party-vibe of Farmer John.
Of course, there’s plenty of Childish-originals making this record just as important as the inspirations behind it, all of them staying within the concept. I Feel Like Giving In is like a Joe Meek-engineered Merseybeat tune, Dangerous Charm reminds, once again, of the Shangri Las, as if backed by The Birds while doin’ the Diddley beat and Black Ludela continues with more freakbeatin’ MODish sounds.
The moody Duchbeat feel of I Did Him Wrong, sounds like it must be about the same guy like the one Sandie Shaw sings about in the above mentioned tune, Jealousy, as the press release points out, would’ve been perfect for Davy Jones and here, it’s kinda like a poormen’s Monkee-bussiness, while the closing Delmona, The Temptress Of Love gets a bit psych-y, just to make things more diverse.
It says that The Delmonas were made of Thee Milkshakes’ singing girlfriends, also wanting to have their share of fun. Well, it seems to me that they took it pretty seriously, even teaching their boyfriends a thing or two.
[Released by Get Hip 2003]
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