The Jackalopes All The Horror CD Review
Today, I'd like to kick off our Halfway To Halloween extravaganza by talking about one of my favorite Indy Horrorpunk bands - the pride of Dayton, Ohio, The Jackalopes! While the band isn’t known the world over, they’ve carved out their own niche and presence in the Horror scene through legendary live shows, compilation appearances and a few releases. Granted, those releases are few and far considering how long the band has been around – personally, I’d like to have more but in the words of Jagger and the boys “you can’t always get what you want”!
I first became aware of the band back in 2000 with the double 7” release of a Samhain Tribute entitled “The Rebirthing” via Spasthmatic Records – I still proudly own this release! It’s been a while since I’ve listened to it, but the one thing I remember the most about it is being so turned on by The Jackalopes cover of Samhain’s “Initium/Horror Biz”. That one appearance still stands out to me, and I just knew I had to find out more about this band and get more of their music, sadly there wasn’t much around at that time, but ultimately the band would release their debut full length “Jacksploitation” in ’03, which I reviewed for the original version of Black Angel Promotions. Sadly, the review is long gone, but the CD is still on my shelf today – I made damned sure to hold onto it, it’s still a favorite release of mine from that time frame. The genius of that CD was that the music wasn’t all Horror related, it had a touch of Glam, Glitter, Punk and a few comical moments that still make me smile today. Over the years I’ve always wondered what happened to the Lopes and I’ve always wanted to be closer and know more about the band, but I’m in Podunk Ga and the Lopes aren’t a cross-country touring act. Sadly, I didn’t follow the band as much as I should’ve on the internet through the years, I just kind of lost touch with what had been happening with them – it happens to everyone these days.
In 2024 The Jackalopes saw fit to release another album concentrating solely on the band’s more Horror oriented tunes. The title of this release is “All the Horror” and it’s exactly just that, all their studio recordings based on and out of Horror. This release comes to us courtesy of The Jackalopes lead singer, band leader and knower/doer of all things, Rev. Chad Wells, and his label HorrorShock Records. There’s a strong chance that fans won’t have all the tracks this release as several of them are from compilation appearances from long defunct labels such as Spasthmatic Records, Blacklight Records and Horror High. Long story short, those releases are hard to track down if you weren’t around when they were current. I only have a few of them myself. I won’t lie, I have all of them in my want list based on the Jackalopes presence and I’m always on the hunt!
It's hard to nail down a favorite track on this release, they’re all favorites as they all have so many special memories attached to them. “Frankenstein Girl” was an incredible tune off the “Jacksplotation” album, it’s still as fresh and fun as it was back in ’03. And I never miss the chance to scream the lyrics “When she went down on me, she turned into a FUCK MACHINE”! The perv in me always loved that line. HA! And then there’s the first tune I ever heard from the band, Samhain’s “Initium/Horror Biz”. That Samhain Tribute was one of the first pieces to be sent in for review and The Jackalopes is the first track on the release, it was a killer way to open the compilation up, the band were fiery and just ripped through the cover with the same intensity and machismo that Samhain did, and I was hooked. Another big stand out for me is “The Night You Died”, I can’t recall exactly where I first heard it at, I don’t think it was the Horror High comp, but it could be – I’m no spring chicken these days. This tune never fails to hit me in my feelings, the subject matter gets me every time and all I can think of are the good times and the tattered/torn memories I have of friends and loved ones that have long passed on. It’s some shit that a Horropunk tune could make me feel this way, but “The Night You Died” is a moment, it’s not just a song, it’s a moment to me, it’s something to stand on and to feel proud of. It hits me directly in my cold black heart every time and I love every fucking second of it. And then there’s “Redneck Zombies” that was only available on the “White Trash Monsters 7” forever. This is a raging trip through the hazy halls of a Troma museum or at least it kind of puts me in that mindset. “Love is a Drug from Hell” is a one of those swingin’ tunes where the Rev’s crooning vocals really shine through. This one was only available on the Complete Monsterworks CD and that’s another one that’s been long gone for several years now. One of the biggest surprises to me is a cover of Social Distortion’s “The Creeps”. I didn’t know the band had covered it, so it was a genuine surprise and highlight to me. You can never go wrong when you’re dealing with anything Social D. related. It’s a great cover and the band does a fantastic job keeping the original spirit of the tune alive. Of course, no Jackalopes Horror release would be complete without “Burning Down the World”, it’s another favorite of mine from long ago. “And the churches are burning”…
If you’re a fan of Horrorpunk or Punk Rock in general, this is a great release. If you’re a fanboy of the band like me, this will knock your dick in the dirt! There’s not enough love for The Jackalopes in the world today, this band should’ve been way bigger and more talked about during the glory days of Horrorpunk. I mean they were doing their own thing; they weren’t trying to ride the Misfits coat tails whatsoever; they really were original and unique in their own special way. “All The Horror” is a living testament to just how special this band was, is and always will be. I’m calling it now – we need reissues of their discography, we need vinyl, we need new tunes, we need it all and we need it now! Until then, this album is readily available on CD courtesy of HorrorShock Records, grab one today and let’s burn this motherfucker down!