By Chip Chandler — Digital Content Producer
The Delta Bombers' Facebook bio boasts that the Las Vegas-based rockabilly band brings rock 'n' roll in all its "raunchy, dirty and wild goodness."
So why does guitarist Andrew Himmler also brag about the "innocence" in the band's music?
Himmler's actually talking about the sonic quality, not the thematic material, of the band's work.
Here, let him explain:
The band's music "is the complete opposite of what you hear on radio — not that there's anything wrong with what you hear on the radio. There's a raw innocence that's completely transparent," Himmler said.
"It's a simple sound that's based on what music is at its roots — blues," he continued. "It's there for everyone to have a good time — strings and a bass and a drum, not a computer and a turntable and weird electronic stuff that doesn't make any sense."
But despite hearkening back to an older era in music, Himmler isn't claiming that Delta Bombers — which makes its Amarillo debut with a 10 p.m. Saturday show at Leftwoods, 2511 S.W. Sixth Ave. — is an old-fashioned band. Nor were their icons.
"They were pushing incredible envelopes," he said. "There was a song by Peanuts Wilson with him talking about pulling a gun on someone and threatening them — in 1957! That's something you'd hear in '80s or '90s rap music!
"That song never played on the radio, but it was out there, and it was hardcore," he continued. "To listen to something like that in 1957 was hardcore. It's like listening to Slayer."
The Delta Bombers, then, play "late '50s rock 'n' roll with a modern twist," Himmler said.
"Imagine what it would be like if obscure rockabilly from the '50s was played nowadays," he continued.
"For us, Chris (Moinichen, the lead singer) is able to write lyrics that speak to his own personal experiences with love and anger and stuff that every artist does," Himmler said. "You definitely won't hear us singing about Peggy Sue at the diner or sitting in a Cadillac at the drive-in. It's more about something that happened to us last week while we were driving around in our Honda."
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Chip Chandler is a digital content producer for Panhandle PBS. He can be contacted at Chip.Chandler@actx.edu, at @chipchandler1 on Twitter and at www.facebook.com/chipchandlerwriter on Facebook.
