The Delta Bombers release ‘Save Me / .44’ on 1 August 2020

The Delta Bombers were formed by Andrew Himmler (Guitar) and Chris Moinichen (vocals and acoustic) in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008, releasing their debut album Howlin’ in 2009 followed by the excellent Wolf in 2012 which gained global attention from the rockabilly community as the group embarked on their first extended headlining tour in Europe, which included the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. 2012 saw changes to the lineup with Gregorio Garcia (upright bass) and PJ Franco (drums) joining.

2018 saw the release of their best album to date in Pressure and Time a classic album of the genre. Playing rock and roll heavily influenced by the blues, country and rockabilly, they have developed a loyal fanbase over the years all over the world. 2018, they are regulars on the live circuit they have performed with the likes of The Blasters, Legendary Shack Shakers, The Brains, The Quakes and Tiger Army. The Delta Bombers are returning to the UK in spring 2021 for a joint headline tour with The reverend Horton Heat (details at the bottom of the review).

The new single Save Me / .44 is the last in a series of four self-released singles, known as ‘The Pack’. The other singles are 15 to Life (2019), the outstanding Give Em’ All (2019) and mellow Bottom of the Pack (2020).

Save Me has a stronger country influence to it than some of their recent releases, with the acoustic guitar introduction followed by its classic country guitar picking, and brushed drums from PJ, but it still has a rockabilly tone / under current running through it with the excellent standing bass playing of Gregorio. For me, it has a Western kind of feel to it, along the lines of the solo album from Nick 13 (Tiger Army). Chris Moinichen has a wonderfully powerful voice which works so effectively in their style of music (check out Take These Chains from my Heart and I Got a Gun from their album Pressure and Time as other examples of his excellent vocals). But Save Me has a wonderful freshness to it and despite it’s dark lyrics of regret and demons haunting the singer “won’t somebody save me….” It’s a song to tap a foot along to and sing along with.

.44 sits on the B side and is welcome anti-dote to the soft country styling of Save Me. A re-worked version of a track previously released on the 2014 album The Delta Bombers. As the title suggests, its about a .44 magnum, and like the 2018 track I Got a Gun from the album Pressure and Time it’s a tale of revenge after finding out about infidenlity. The original version was fantastic.

Usually, when a band re-leases a track, it’s sharpened up, the rough edges of earlier work smoothed out….. oh now, not on this one ! This version of .44 is kinda rougher, louder, harsher and simply….. and boy is it good ! The track is ‘cleaner’ but the vocals are course edged and gritty as is the music. The lyrics are still uncompromising “I kick down your door, roll up your stairs and I find out you’re home. Let the blood drip down your walls….. because I just don’t care. Now that you’re gone, found out you cheated woman, when I leave you alone….. I’m covered in blood with a smile on my face, cause I’m finally happy now”.

The new styling fits the song so brilliantly. It’s a harsh song of brutal, uncompromising revenge, and musically that’s what it needs – to be blunt and in your face. Outstanding.

The Delta Bombers style is of blues/country/rockabilly influenced good old rock and roll, and as a band, they manage to produce a music that appeals both to the demin wearing country fan, and the quiff wearing psychobilly fan. There’s something for everyone in their work, but music that they can all enjoy together.

Another great release from the guys, and well worth a score of 9.0 from LiveWire Music.

If you like what you hear, you can catch The Delta Bombers live in 2021 here in the UK. They are touring with the equally amazing The Reverend Horton Heat, stopping off at Glasgow (3 May 2021 support from The Bikini Bottoms) Newcastle (4 May 2021 support from Red Hot Riot) Manchester (5 May 2021 support from The Deadshots) Bristol (7 and 8 May 2021 support from The Strays). Tickets are available online from: www.rockabillynight.co.uk

For more information on The Delta Bombers, check out their website: www.thedeltabombers.com