The Tremors

After playing together for just two years, The Tremors debut CD, "The Scourge of the South," is a sign of good things to come for this Greensboro trio. Founded in the roots of rock n' roll, The Tremors serve up a healthy serving of rockabilly. Music this good shows that the Gate City does have a musical soul. That is, if you look for it. Meet The Tremors at their Chicken Pickin' Rock 'n' Roll Revue and CD-release party 8 p.m., Saturday at Ziggy's. From the opening track, "100 Proof Blues Boogie," to the final "Tremors Bop," The Tremors get revved up and never slow down. Guitarist Jimmy Tremor (formerly of the Greensboro based Ubangi Stomp), bassist Slim Perkins and drummer Stretch Armstrong show off their musical chops by getting back down to the
nitty gritty of rockabilly. Sure, the lyrics won't win any Pulitzer Prizes. But hey, they don't need to. The music is about having fun, and The
Tremors pull it off with ease. While most songs are originals, there are a few covers thrown into the mix including, "It'll Be Me" and "Who Took My Baby?" With solid, entertaining music like this, The Tremors are sure to kick some life into the Triad's music scene. You
can see why Saturday night at their CD release party -— a seven-band lineup Perkins put together that he calls Chicken Pickin' Rock 'n' Roll
Revue at Ziggy's. Free chicken. Good
music. You can't beat that. - Jeff Hahne, Staff Writer, Go Triad! (Greensboro News & Record)

Invading Europe from North Carolina (USA) with their own kind of original stomping rockabilly sounds, here are Jimmy, Slim & Stretch. The Tremors are something out your mamas worst nightmare, mixing the pill poppin' style of Carl Perkins and the sex appeal of Elvis these boys will charm you with a little dixie fried rock 'n' roll and send you straight to Mars with its original alien rock: "The Scourge of the South."

Their dedication to the musical roots of rock 'n' roll comes through in every whipsaw atomic blast. Through passionate research and exploration into rock 'n' roll history, the band has assembled the finest and most legendary songs of the 50s. Throw in some of their own rockin' original material and you've got rockabilly as pure, authentic and strong as Tennessee sour mash. I guess you have to be a US Southerner to know what Tennessee Sour Mash is, but I think I got the message here.

Starting off with a hard pounding, fast paced rockabilly bopper titled "100 Proof Blues Boogie", you'll know immediatly that these guys mean business. Rockabilly business that is, fast and loud. Actually, what caught my attention first was the cover of this new album "The Scourge Of The South", 'cause it looks like 50s horror comic book, not to mention the looks of the bandmembers themselves on the inlay picture... Guitarist Jimmy looks as if he just had his fingers in a 220 volt socket, chubby Slim (how about that contradiction) appears to have escaped from a ZZ Top fanclub night, and Stretch tries hard to tear up yet another one of his skins. Superb design, great pictures, and a magnificent re-design of the Sun Records label. Very well done!

Only 2 cover songs on this album, Jerry Lee's "It'll Be Me" and Warren Smith's "Who Took My Baby", both these original Sun tracks got the Tremors treatment, just as they did to the Sun label. The Tremors' self-penned tracks vary from authentic 50s rockabilly ("My Kitten is Up a Tree"), to hard knocking neo-rockabilly with scorchy lead guitar breaks ("Pill Popper"), and a little of everything else in between. Not for the faint-hearted rockabilly fan, but great rockin' music, with a touch of horror, all the way.

- Blackcat Rockabilly Netherlands

The Scourge of the South is back with a vengeance. With another great design in black & white on Slave Audio Documents. If you haven't heard of The Tremors before, you must read their bio and the review of their previous CD release first...

This new mini-album is something special, apart from the fabulous cover design and the supurb tremulous music, it's released on CD as well as on vinyl. The EP contains 4 tracks and is pressed on mint green "glow in the dark" vinyl. Looks very sharp! The inside is a large folded photo collage of band pictures, very well done.

The mini-CD contains 2 bonus tracks. One is an alternative take of the smash hit from their previous album "Pill Popper", the second is an unreleased version of Carl Perkins' "Her Love Rubbed Off".

It all starts with the title song, Warren Smith's "Uranium Rock", brought to you Horror Bop Tremors Style. This always was a great song, and this new revived version... well, you just gotta rock!

"Make With The Shake" and "Lovin' On My Mind" are both Tremors orginals, written by Tremor, Perkins & Armstrong. Two great fast paced rockabilly songs with superb slapping by Slim "ZZ Top" Perkins (don't you just love this guy). Jimmy Tremor's slightly distorted guitar sound makes the unique Tremor sound that'll make your skin crawl.

Last but certainly not least is a very fast redition of Mack Vickery's "Drive-In" that'll knock you off your feet. As with the "Scourge of the South" album, not for the faint-hearted rockabilly fan, but damn good rock 'n' roll music!

- Blackcat Rockabilly Netherlands

Fans of this top-flight North Carolina band -- perhaps "20 flight" would be a more appropriate term considering the rockabilly song repertoire -- have been waiting patiently for a new release by the Tremors, as patiently as the somewhat dodgy chick named Jody who used to hang out in front of a bowling alley in Denver, hoping her main man, the raunchy pachuco Johnny, would come by and take her for a drive in his hot rod. These former fans are going to have to be happy with a shortie disc, six tracks and less than 14 minutes in total, just like the aforementioned lass had to sometimes settle for a fleeting glimpse of her boyfriend on nights when he was too busy racing to hang out with a dame. Tremors fans are getting the better deal, in the long and short run of it, as Johnny was a total jerk and these six tracks are pretty much uniformly excellent. On "Lovin' on My Mind," the rhythm section of Slim Perkins and Stretch Armstrong cooks like mad; elsewhere, the bassist pulls some terrific synchronization with the deliriously recorded vocals of guitarist Jimmy Tremor. The experience, needless to say too short, at least includes some essential stops in terms of this genre's subject matter: sex, drive-ins, pill-popping, sex, money, sex, and Carl Perkins. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide - Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide

Imagine, if you will, Frankenstein. Vision that bigheaded freak with a pompadour and a tattoo-sleeved arm. Got that? Now picture yourself riding shotgun in a 1952 hearse with him. You’re traveling at light speed down a dark road. He slowly takes a CD from its case. With those oversized, hotdog-like fingers he crams it into the player and then, WHAM! Out of nowhere Frankie backhands you, full force, over the seat into the death compartment. That is the feeling you have when the first track from the new Tremors EP Uranium Rock kicks in.
The rockabilly classic, Uranium Rock, is the first rattling track. In the signature Tremors style, it is flipped-over and frazzled. I’ve heard this Warren Smith classic done by many bands, but even the original is left to rot with this punked up version. Also available, the glow-in-the-dark vinyl EP is more than a novelty. It’s a haunting piece of throwback Americana and features a great photo pictorial of the band.
In true professional style, The Tremors released this EP (with bonus tracks) about one and a half years after their debut CD, Scourge of the South. That CD has remained on our top shelf CD rack in the Rockabilly Babe headquarters since it was delivered to us. Now we have to make a bigger top shelf. Without a doubt, Scourge of the South is one of the best rockabilly CDs ever made (see the review), but Uranium Rock has taken on a whole afterlife of it’s own. I’m glad to see some of the best songs off SOTS originate and made it to this EP, like Uranium Rock and the alternate take of Pill Popper.
Back to the death ride. The funky, feel-good Make With The Shake creams through the speakers as one of the catchiest songs in the underworld; a song about being scared about meeting your maker. The unmistakable, fragmented voice of Jimmy Tremor is at his all-time tops as he grooves you to new heights. How one man can channel Joey and Elvis at the same time is a mystery to me. The doghouse wrecking Slim Perkins with his hypnotic hip shaking is another one of the three masterminds to this extravaganza. The third key to this dynamic trio is the towering Stretch Armstrong. His signature skin-pounding demolition is a site to behold. This band is unreal.
Lovin’ On My Mind, another Tremor’s original track, is a hard-driving punkabilly love song. The ride backslides to the above-mentioned Pill Popper. “Mountain justice for Klonopin Jim”, Jimmy Tremor wails about a pill-popping junkie meeting his fate. This song is one of the shining glories on either album, but the alternate take on Uranium Rock is worth the high.
The ride ends with Her Love Rubbed Off. This song is about uh…… loving and uh….. rubbing and uh…. I think some things are better left unsaid.
You can pick up a copy of this godforsaken joyride CD or vinyl, called Uranium Rock at www.TremorsRockabilly.com.
The Tremors have become such a staple, if not the staple, of the NC rockabilly scene that there was no way we could not invite them back to the Rockabilly BBQ on June 18th, 2005. See them or die! - Mark

- Rocakbilly Babe

Back when rock was still in its infancy and considered scandalous by the general populous, teenagers flocked to small garage and backyard shows in defiance of parental distain and in celebration of their musical rebellion. Today, as that rebellion has been co-opted into a world of top Billboard hits and glossy packaging, the Tremors bring us back to that raw backyard feel, giving listeners the opportunity to bop to a hearty rockabilly beat.

Their newest album on Brain Drain Records, The Scourge of the South, seamlessly incorporates the Tremors’ adoration of mentors such as Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis with the raw rock sound that has evolved since times past. This combination of new and old is best reflected in “Rockin’ All the Time,” in which front man Jimmy Tremor brings a bit of the modern devil rockabilly strut into what could otherwise be mistaken for a song at the local VFW mixer.

Slim Perkins (upright bass) and Stretch Armstrong (percussion) deliver a mean low, foot-tapping bass beat. Just make sure you don’t sit too close to the speakers, as Jimmy Tremor frequently oversteps his ability to slingshot his voice to new heights in such songs as “Pill Popper” and “Call To My Reward.” The Tremors also run ragged with production quality, but they use it to their advantage, filling their songs with images of cats, kittens, drinking, dancing and simple rocking out—cliché, perhaps, in this time of rockabilly and psychobilly revival, but with this trio, you truly believe they sing from life experience. This is not music for the cute cherry purse and hair pomade crowd. This is music for the drinking, dancing and tattooed, backwoods kind of rockabilly listener.
- Janine Veazue