Year: 2026
Label: Western Star Records

There’s some very familiar faces behind this unfamiliar name. The Coal Dust Cowboys is a joint venture between Alan Wilson of psychobilly pioneers The Sharks (and owner of Western Star Records) and members of veteran band Stage Frite, also psychobilly.

And the name of the game on this album is: psychobilly. If you’re into the genre, the line-up alone should be enough to pique your interest. Ever since The Sharks wound down their activities a good many years ago, Wilson’s musical activities have rarely crossed over into psychobilly – to the detriment of genre.

How best to describe Beneath The Old Slag Heap? Well, I don’t think I’m very far off if I say it’s The Sharks meets Stage Frite. OK, admittedly, Stage Frite occasionally dabbled with a slightly harder and heavier sound, which is absent from this album, but by and large, knowing who’s behind the band pretty much describes what The Coal Dust Cowboys sound like.

But let’s spell it out. The foundation of the sound is second wave British psychobilly with liberal amounts of neobilly thrown in. The rockabilly isn’t buried half a mile underground like the unfortunate miner on album opener The Jolly Collier; instead, you barely have to scratch at the surface to find it. It’s all very throwback in many ways, sounding very 80’s but slightly more middle-aged… which, essentially, is just what the band is.

There’s no reproach in the above. Beneath The Old Slag Heap might not be very original, but I doubt anyone really wants that from these guys. It might not be the most raucous or wild album, but it makes up for that with sheer confidence of expression and obvious joy in playing that permeates this album through and through. Beneath The Old Slag heap sounds, in the most positive way possible, like a bunch of old friends getting together and deciding to play music like they used to in the old days – and discovering they still have the knack.

There are plenty of standout tracks on the album through which to highlight its high quality. My personal favourite is Resurrection Men, which sounds like vintage The Sharks, down to the macabrely humorous lyrics with a historical twist; something Wilson (who handles the vocals on this) has a penchant for. Album opener The Jolly Collier reminds me of classic Frantic Flintstones, and Nuns With Guns is a classic mid-tempo psychobilly romp with a prominent slapping bass; the latter is perfected by Steve De’ath’s streetwise sound in the vocal department.

The fact that both Wilson and De’ath handle vocals brings an added variety to the album. Their styles are quite different. Wilson’s are in a cleaner, more classic neobilly/rockabilly style – as exemplified on Dead Man’s Drape, a rather rockabilly number with a definite neo twist. De’ath, on the other hand, has more of a punk snarl to his vocals, which adds a rougher edge to some tracks.

Beneath The Old Slag Heap sort of crept on me. I didn’t know what to expect when popping it into my CD player – the name actually had me expecting something a bit more country. I certainly wasn’t anticipating one of the more exciting and invigorating psychobilly albums in a good while. But that’s just what the album turned out to be.

I don’t know if The Coal Dust Cowboys is meant to be a proper band or just a one-off thingy. Stage Frite and Wilson have co-operated before – the now-defunct band released several albums on Wilson’s label, recorded in Wilson’s studio – and obviously there is a functioning chemistry at play here. So I wouldn’t mind hearing more, especially considering how enjoyable this album is. But if Beneath The Old Slag Heap ends up being the only album this combo releases… well, at least it’s a damn fine addition to the discography of all involved.

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