Dance Hall Pimps - Beast For Love

Dance Hall Pimps
Beast for Love
Lakeshore Records

Do you remember how good of an idea but how terrible the Misfits Meet the Nutley Brass record was? If you do, than this album will set the record straight. Combining banjos, organs, Doors style mystery, Big Band swing, horror themed lyrics, and a little Stray Cat Strut, the Dance Hall Pimps have created one hell of an album with Beast For Love.

Beast for Love is chock full of dance hall swagger. The best example here is the completely swingin’ “Mommy Was a Zombie,” and the band knows it as it’s the lead single. It’s an infectious little ditty that makes you somehow feel better about your own life. Poor guy. “Beast for Love” is a rollicking barn shaker that makes you want to get up and ask the crazy girl in the corner (you know, the one with all the tattoos and the Juicehead tee shirt) to dance the night away like its 1959! The band slows it down with the Chicago Blues justification sound of “You’d Drink Like I Do Too.” It’s practically a new anthem for the blue collar working stiff. The fuzzy electric sound of the more Rock N’ Roll “Transylvania Girls” (because when you’re in Transylvania the “trannies get you!”) is another highlight, as is the band’s swampy rendition of “I Put a Spell on You” (I dare you to try to resist the mystification of that Saxophone!).

Perhaps one of my favorite things about this record though is the very small print at the bottom of the insert where the band let us know that a portion of the album’s sales go to support organizations that are set on putting an end to sex trafficking in America. Declaring “Pimp Music Not People,” the band become appealing for more than just superb musicianship and creative approach to a classic style. I can’t say enough good things about Beast For Love. This is unquestionably one of the most interesting, best executed, and totally refreshing albums of 2012!

Reviewed by Mark Fisher

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