Shockabilly

Vietnam is strange, soupy, and pure Shockabilly from start to finish. The album is divided about half and half between somewhat straightforward songs -- including a bleak cover of Love's "Signed D.C.," the earnest protest folk tune "Nicaragua" (with guest vocalist Ed Sanders of the Fugs), and a characteristically disheveled take on the old country song "Georgia in a Jug" -- and what could more accurately be described as lo-fi psychedelic sound collages. There may be an actual song at the bottom of "Paris," but Eugene Chadbourne's howling guitar and Kramer's voice samples sit so far up in the mix that the foundation is hardly discernible. Their "cover" of the Beatles' "Flying," with its Mr. Rogers samples and bird and airplane noises floating atop the original melody, is another (less noisy) example of this collage approach. In some cases, it is a wonder the music doesn't just totally collapse at the seams, but it never quite happens. Then again, Shockabilly's ability to sit right on the edge of chaos and sound totally relaxed at the same time was one of the group's trademarks. ~ William York, All Music Guide