Year: 2026
Label: De La Rocka Music

Two years after the blistering debut album Nightmare Reborn (review here), Finnish De La Rocka return with a new single. As project mainman Panu De La Rocka discussed in the interview I did with him for Imperiumi (here), this is a standalone single and does as such not hint at a second full-length album coming in the immediate future.

The debut album was an exhilarating tribute to the psychobilly genre, featuring a vast amount of guest vocalists and songs in a variety of styles to fit each vocalist. At the same time, it was a blistering album of timeless, second wave inspired psychobilly that celebrated everything great about the genre without being mere pastiche. Both of the above are things De La Rocka retain for the new single.

The title track features once again Dax Dragster of Godless Wicked Creeps and Johnny Nightmare, who’s become a frequent De La Rocka contributor, on vocals. As can be expected, The Vampire is a fast, hard but still melodic song in a classic second wave psychobilly vein. Of course with a catchy, simple chorus you can sing along to after hearing it once – at least those woooo-bits! It sounds very much like a Dax Dragster song – which isn’t surprising, considering he penned it.

Were it a lesser track, The Vampire with its rather tried-and-true musical form and its darkly humorous tale of a vampire reuniting with his lost love after centuries only to experience an unpleasant surprise would be positively cliché. However, there’s nothing cliché about a song this good performed with such convincing energy.

On the flipside, Lady Luck features Panu himself behind the microphone. The song, which veers into country territory, slows the tempo down to a gallop, and features both violin and acoustic guitar in a central role. The slapping of the double bass provides a solid backbone. This is a prime cut of countrybilly, a dramatic and cinematic tale of bad luck in the old west.

The country/psychobilly crossover of the B-side taps into a classic style hybrid within psychobilly. Already pioneers like The Meteors and Demented Are Go tried their hand at it, and there are some absolute classics that mix these two styles. De La Rocka’s take, replete with a western-style sense for dramatic cinema, is a fine addition to this mix of styles. It’s not only a fresh take on a classic crossover style, the story-driven lyrics reveal an innate understanding of the western song: this could be the title track to a western movie about a bunch of desperados down on their luck running a gauntlet towards their demise.

The single is a pleasant mix of something old and something new. The title track wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Nightmare Reborn, whilst Lady Luck explores new territory for De La Rocka. This is a combo that works well: two tracks of different styles, which on one hand show continuity, and on the other a daring to expand horizons.

It feels pretty redundant to pick favourites. At first, I liked Lady Luck better. Now, I just can’t say. The Vampire is such a joyous celebration of everything that I once fell in love with in psychobilly. So let’s call it a draw. At any rate, the winner here is De La Rocka: though this is a bite-sized snack only, it proves that Nightmare Reborn wasn’t a fluke. The Vampire is a great single and, though it doesn’t foreshadow a new album, it ensures interest in whatever De La Rocka choose to do next.

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