Richard Hawley – Rockabilly Radio Review

Deeper the material goes for those obsessed with certain artists. Richard Hawley has plenty of accessible tracks and recent compilation Now Then does a great job of bringing up those forgotten tracks from way back when. Rockabilly Radio is the equivalent of a hushed-up secret, passed around forums and social circles in the know on a track which has, for better or worse, been left behind. Remember Flick? A movie, apparently. Tucked away on the Lady’s Bridge EP and more instrumental-oriented than any of the tracks featured from this era, the crackly piece from Hawley elicits exactly what it says on the tin. Rockabilly aesthetics, a law-hating protagonist with flickers of Johnny Cash-like interpretations and old, swing-time pianos.  

Those cries and crackly moments which push through are a whole new level to Hawley who requires some real layering to make this one work. He pulls it off well and crafts a track which blurs the contemporary with the charms of his influences. A chance for Hawley to celebrate those tracks which mean a whole lot to him – as he did on Little Bangers over a decade later. It is better, of course, to hear Hawley trial the genre than piece together his favourite deep cuts and clippings. Rockabilly Radio is a hell of a lot of fun from Hawley – who writes this one for an ill-forgotten zombie flick named Flick. No wonder this track has been buried along with the undead plot, it is hard enough to find a copy or source for it online. Still, Rockabilly Radio lives on.  

It is not the first brush with the big screen Hawley has made, nor is it his best. Asteroid City and Funny Cow remain, two glittering examples of his worthwhile ear for soundtrack experimentation. Paired with The Feral Cats here, Rockabilly Radio has a nice blur of homage and honing a unique style. Nostalgia at its core but new avenues of creativity for a long-defunct genre. A hell of a structure for this one – a huge swing to it and an energy found in few other spots of the grand Hawley discography. But these rare occasions are a real treat for those who need them, Hawley too. Every now and then a musician needs the chance to funnel their efforts into a passion project – too few do it and the results are clear. Rockabilly Radio is a rare gem of a piece, and Hawley is in top form. 

For those who know of its origins, job well done, this will be a playlist essential and will have been for nearly two decades. Those perpetually behind and permanently so will enjoy Rockabilly Radio away from the stench of a possibly poor-quality film – no judgement can be passed on that but the synopsis does not exactly get the heart yearning for it. Still, if it offers up a crackly microphone and Hawley behind it, screeching and wailing and channelling a similar structure and experience to the likes of Cash and Elvis Presley, there are no complaints. Hawley already had a few comparisons to the 1950s heyday when he started coiffing his hair and jutting around with slick suits. Rockabilly Radio just steadies it and tests the waters of how he would’ve sounded way back when.