Southern Culture On The Skids - The Kudzu Ranch

Sometimes a band releases an album that is just so quintessentially them that it becomes a defining statement. Such is The Kudzu Ranch for longtime southern kitsch kings Southern Culture On The Skids. Everything you could ever want while listening to SCOTS is here, the goofy tongue-in-cheek lyrics, the shredding guitar and good ole’ boy vocal stylings of Rick Miller, the thundering bass and gorgeous vocals of Mary Huff, and the swinging-est rock drums south of the Mason-Dixon Line from Dave Hartman. Sprinkle that with some surf instrumental, back porch goodtime country and add a dash of psychedelia and you get the definitive Southern kitsch album. The songs in this collection range from one about a drought, to one decrying how busy the road neighboring the studio is getting, to one praising “bad boys,” to one about a proselytizing neighbor who likes to burn trash so much she will “burn anything that can’t run away.” That’s the mixed-up, crazy world of Southern Culture on the Skids in all its pink flamingo, pickup truck (with gun rack), backyard BBQ goodness.

The only bad thing I can say about this CD is that it’s hard to find. But, luckily, you can get it straight from the Kudzu Ranch, itself, here.

You won’t regret it.