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Here's what the
press has said about 'Today
We Kill...Tomorrow We Die':
Well, all I can say is, it's about
time! There's just nothing better than when a great band finally gets
around to their debut CD and it's easily as good as I could hope for. The
Hellbenders have been teasing us with brilliant spaghetti western surf for
a long time. Now, a full album of brilliant music, surfed and polished and
sequenced like an Italian soundtrack release. The band includes a number
of very cool vocals with rich surf-spaghetti guitars too, including "All
I Can Do Is Cry," Johnny Cash's "Big River," the
delightful "A Gringo Like Me," "Run, Billy Run,"
"The Ghosts Of Boot Hill," "Gunfight At The O.K.
Corral," and "On The Run"
Picks: Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die,
Winchester Justice, Unmarked Grave, Waiting To Kill, Sabata, The Big
Gundown, Siboney, Runnin' Wild, Have A Nice Funeral My Friend, The Gunman
Left Standing, The Hellbenders
"Today We Kill... Tomorrow We
Die" 
Glorious reverbed twang chord and
western rhythm launched "Today We Kill... Tomorrow We Die."
The Hellbenders propagate a splendid spaghetti western intro with a rich
cactus sound and feel. Thoroughly enjoyable!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Winchester Justice" 
Ultra wet guitar gently runs a western
riff and spaghetti drums carry the beat. "Winchester Justice"
is a splendid song with a rich heritage of the old west the way Ennio
Morricone morphed it, then brought back around to the American sound.
Excellent!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Desert Standoff" 
Dangerous, scenic in the stubby guitar
ambush way... "Desert Standoff" is much like soundtrack
sequences for a real live spaghetti western. A kind of interlude.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Unmarked Grave"
This is a splendid track in the wholly
original way that only the Hellbenders reinvent spaghetti western. Great
reverbed surf rhythm guitar, liquid hanging tree melody, and military
drums. "Unmarked Grave" is a splendid song!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Waiting To Kill"
the intro lines present reverbed time
clock nervousness... The lead brings on a sense of inevitability... "Waiting
To Kill" is a sequence filler kind of song that's very effective.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Sabata"
"Sabata" is an
adventurous open road kind of song with "Mexican" murmurs and a
semi cowboy splashiness. It moves unimpeded down a coastal highway. Even
the chorus is cool. A fine track!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"The Big Gundown"
Trotting bass lines under twin guitar
lines accented with stinging plucks... very cool number. It rings has mega
Southwest feel, and invokes images of galloping riders in long coats and
wide brim hats. Bitchin'.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Siboney"
Next to Johnny Fortune, this is easily
the coolest version of Ernesto Lacuona's classic song. It's very rich
rhythmically, and very fluid. Great drums and an absolutely liquid flow. A
billion stars here!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Unmarked Grave Revisited"
"Unmarked Grave Revisited"
is another short interlude sequence just like in the movies. Cool!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Runnin' Wild"
Rhythmically very interesting, echoed
and reverbed, and way fun. "Runnin' Wild" bounces and
romps under a splashy western melody with an attractive arrangement.
Totally cool!
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"A taste Of Death"
Rich twang rings out a short interlude
blast.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"Have A Nice Funeral My Friend"
There simply is no better spaghetti
western recording than this. The melody is perfect genre picturesque, the
guitar tone is splendidly pasta drenched, and the rhythm section delivers
a remarkably effective cowboys with cigars rolling beat. Even the use of
distortion seems right in place. This is as infectious as they come.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"The Gunman Left Standing"
This fine track first appeared on the
B-side of their amazing lone single. This is mid tempo, fluid, military,
and quite compelling. One day a whole CD will appear from this excellent
Volcanos alter ego.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
"The Hellbenders"
Easily the best spaghetti western band
on earth, Michigan's Hellbenders ply their trade to Ennio Morricone's song
from which their name came. More than just cool, "The Hellbenders"
is well developed and very dramatic. The lag of the second guitar in the
guitar duo section is very unusual. It's a trick normally applied by piano
players.
Spaghetti Surf Instrumental Stereo
--Phil Dirt (www.reverbcentral.com)
The Hellbenders are a band who like
Westerns. Subtle hints give this away :
1) The way they are dressed in ponchos, and holding toy guns in their
picture.
2) The fact that there 3 Ennio Morricone covers on this album
3) The fact that they find it difficult to write a song of their own
without mentioning "Boot Hill", "Gallows" or
"Winchesters", or even, in one case "O.K. Corral".
Luckily, these trailblazers of this "nu-cowboy" (as everyone
will soon be calling it) have made a great album. From the title track and
it's despair that "even though the gallows wait for us at our trails
end, tonight we kill, tomorrow, we die..." to the obligatory Johnny
Cash cover, and the faux-western instrumental music (e.g. "Desert
Standoff").
I challenge anyone to listen to it all the way through and not start using
terms like "partner" or "gringo" or feel the need to
watch movies involving Sergio Leone. The only criticism being that 21
tracks of broadly similar material means you're unlikely to want to listen
to it all the way through in one sitting - but then that gives you more
time to practise your quick draw in the mirror...
On Double
Crown Records, where it is available for a fistful of dollars.
--BBC Radio Website Review
Hellbenders Look West For Inspiration
If Sergio Leone were alive and making
spaghetti westerns today, the Hellbenders would provide the score. The
group's full-length debut is an intriguing and enjoyable movie and
Americana music homage that skillfully blends covers and original
material.
On "Today We Kill . . .," Rick Mills (guitar and vocals) assumes
the old-west persona of Arch Stanton, Chris Flanagan (guitar) becomes Leo
Marsh, Bill Bowen (drums) is Lonesome Billy, and Bill Rowe (bass) is
Tombstone Bill. All are Detroit music veterans, with Mills, Flanagan and
Bowen also playing in the 3-D Invisibles and the Volcanos.
On this mostly instrumental recording a few tracks were indeed written by
Leone collaborator Ennio Morricone, but they are lesser-known works. About
half are Mills originals, with some notable cover songs penned by Johnny
Cash ("Big River") and Sheb Wooley ("Run, Billy,
Run").
With menacing guitars and militaristic snare drum riffs the order of the
day, the Hellbenders pay sweet tribute to standoffs, unmarked graves,
gunfights at the O.K. Corral and other images gleaned from history and
classic movie westerns.
--Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press special writer
'Today
We Kill...Tomorrow We Die'
has been played stations all over the world, including: KFJC - Phil Dirt,
KDHX - The Wayback Machine, KFAI - Radio Rumpus Room, WUSB - Rock N' Roll
Dance Party, KCR - A Day At The Beach, WOBC - 91.5 FM, Tsunami Soul Radio
Show, WHFR 89.3 Detroit, CJSR - Liza's Pills |
