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Headcat 13 Headcat 13 Review by Gary Hill Headcat 13 is a new band, but in some ways it isn't. The band HeadCat consisted of Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) and rockabilly legend Danny B. Harvey (Rockats). They produced hard rocking modern takes on old school rock and roll. With Lemmy no longer with us, Harvey has put together a new band on the legacy of the old one and named it "Headcat 13." Taking Kilmister's place is none other than Alan Davey. No one can fill Lemmy's shoes better than Davey. Not only was Davey good friends with Kilmister, he learned to play bass out of his admiration for Lemmy and he even held the bass gig in Hawkwind for many years, a role that Kilmister played in the early days of the band. Paul Vezelis (Frantic Flattops) handles the drums on the album, and backing vocals (and even a duet on one song) are provided by Annie Marie Lewis at points on the disc. This album really carries on the traditions of HeadCat very well, delivering some killer modern versions of 1950s (and even 60s) rock and roll. This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) form in Music Street Journal: 2020 Volume 6. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review

Let’s Go Crazy Bass leads this cut out, and as the guitar kicks in, the number really fires into killer rocking zones. This is based on old-school rock and roll, but it has a real modern crunch to it. The guitar soloing is on fire, too.

Wigglin’ And A Jigglin’ With female backing vocals, this is another screaming hot stomper. This one's written by Davey. It has some scorching guitar soloing and is a killer tune.

Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite This really feels quite a bit like the rock and roll side of Motorhead. It's another stomper with a lot of style and class.

That’s It That’s All Another straight ahead old school rocker, this has a lot of punk in the mix. It's a powerhouse tune.

Route 66 A cover of an old chestnut, this is a fun romp. It's not a big change, but it's effective.

Psycho Daisies Punk, metal and old school rock and roll merge on this killer tune.

Reckless, Wild And Crazy This really feels a lot like Motorhead. Sure, it's more 50s rock and roll based than that, but then again, that isn't a sound that they steered clear of, anyway.

Don’t Look Back Another cut written by Davey, this is not a big change, but another hard rocker. This has some of the tastiest guitar work of the whole set. It's screaming hot.

Have Love Will Travel Bouncy old-school rock and roll is the order of business here. This makes me think of bands like The Kingsmen. It's a bit of variety and a lot of fun. It might be my favorite tune here.

Susie Q Here's another cover of an old classic. This version rocks out really well. I get a Motorhead does CCR vibe from it. The guitar solo is a meaty one.

Come Out And Play With a real Bo Diddley beat, this has some seriously killer guitar soloing built into it.

Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On Another old-school classic, this one has a duet between male and female vocals. I love the piano solo on this thing. The tune feels a bit like a collaboration between Motorhead and Girlschool.

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