Various Artists, Rockin’ Bones (Rhino)

 

This box set from Rhino Records can be thought of as the counterpart to One Kiss Can Lead to Another, the girl group collection that came out last fall. The subtitle says Rockin’ Bones collects punk and rockabilly, but it’s more accurately rockabilly with punk attitude. That’s its strength and its weakness. It’s The Wild Ones captured on CD, with singers making their own rules, defying authority and living life to the max, accompanied by the sound of twangy guitars. There’s not a bum track here, and in sections it’s exhilarating. But, after one whole disc—not to mention four—the singers’ stances seem more like caricature than real life, and the similar tempos and twang make the songs run together. Because of that, the enduring pleasures here come from the most accomplished artists—Elvis, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent—who have control of their art, and the most off-the-wall because they’re so out of control. That, unfortunately, is more or less what the Cramps and many rockabilly revivalists figured out over the past 30 years. If thought of as a library or repository for these tunes, though, Rockin’ Bones is invaluable.