Psycho-what?

Just call the Royal Crowns Amazing

by Amy Finch

Amazing Royal Crowns singer Jack ("King") Kendall smashed his wrist after falling hand-first out of the rafters during the show that won these psychobillies the Rumble a couple of weeks back.

Okay, that's a double-barreled lie.

First, Kendall broke his wrist when a van door closed on it while he was unloading equipment. Second, the Crowns are not a psychobilly band; they hate that word. Their crazed, stomping tunes are "fast swingin' rockabilly punk," as bassist Jack ("The Swinger") Hanlon would put it. Or "greasy-rock-and-roll-punk-rock-and-rockabilly," in Kendall's words. But somehow the mundane truth -- van-door accidents, greasy rock and roll -- doesn't do justice to the Crowns' hellfire image.

Semantics aside, the Crowns' Rumble victory marks the first time ever that an outfit with rockabilly so deeply embedded in its soul has won. Granted, it's a semi-distant relative, sped up and wearing jackboots, but a member of the rockabilly family nonetheless. That the "psycho" word will take shape in the minds of some is inevitable. But that has less to do with the Crowns' links to genuine psychobillies like the Meteors and Demented Are Go than with this band's undeniable nuttiness. Put it down to years of loving the Circle Jerks and Black Flag, as well as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.

The Crowns' win seems to support recent rumblings -- bad pun intended -- that a rockabilly upheaval is in the works. Indeed, there are a few great old-schoolers on the Boston scene: the Crank-tones, the Racketeers, the Raging Teens. And people unfamiliar with the genre might put the Crowns in that category as well. Actually their faster-louder approach has more in common with that of '70s punkabillies like the Cramps. Says Kendall, "Our audience is younger. We've had fans come up to us in the beginning and think that this was rockabilly. Through talking to us and going to shows, they've gotten into older stuff like Joe Clay and Johnny Burnette. And now they're quite educated. I think it's gotta start somewhere."

If you shut your ears and settled your gaze on the Crowns' instruments, you could be excused for connecting them directly to a time gone by. "Johnny [Maguire] plays a 1955 Gretsch guitar, through early-'60s amps," explains Kendall. "Jack plays a very, very old stand-up bass. Our drummer [Nate Moir] plays a '60s kit. When we recorded that album [their recent homonymous debut, on Monolyth/Soundproof], we played it through vintage '50s mikes. We're not trying to prove anything; we just like the sound."

And though Jack might've been weaned on metal and hardcore as a kid, it was an encounter with legendary traditionalist Sleepy LaBeef that really shaped his bass slapping. The Crowns did a show with LaBeef once and, Hanlon says, "I told him I was trying to learn this particular style of bass. I knew a couple of things but I was trying to learn how to do the boom-chukka-boom-chukka kind of thing. He showed me one little technique, and from that I learned everything else about how to play. So I had one five-minute lesson with Sleepy LaBeef, and everything else fell into place."

The Crowns' new/old approach convinced the Rumble judges, despite the blow-by-blow prediction of a Ramona Silver victory from "Cellars by Starlight" columnist Brett Milano. His column hit the newsstands on the day of the final, and the Crowns saw it during their drive up from hometown Providence. Seeing it "kind of freaked me out," says Kendall. "Actually, it kind of took the pressure off, too. I was like, well, that's okay, because I'm not into the whole competition. None of us are. So I immediately went right to Ramona Silver when we arrived at the club. She was laughing; she thought it was funny also."

Going into the Rumble was a bit of a lark for the Crowns. They never imagined they'd win, but the idea of playing in front of new people and getting paid was enticing. Except that now there's that fabled "Rumble Curse" to be dealt with. In the competition's 19-year history, only one winner -- 'Til Tuesday -- has made much of an impact outside of Boston.

Kendall and Hanlon shrug off the Curse, saying that the win really hasn't changed anything for them. Before the Rumble they had a coast-to-coast July tour planned, and they still do. Hanlon explains, "As long as we keep busy and keep putting out songs that we feel are good, keep on the same course that we're on right now, I think we'll be okay. If our next CD comes out and it's a Rush tribute album, then we'll be in a little bit of trouble, probably."

The next Boston performance of the Amazing Royal Crowns is at Tower Records on Newbury Street at 7 p.m. on June 26. They'll also play the Tremont Ale Festival on June 28 at 3 p.m. at the Tremont Brewery, 50 Terminal Street, in Charlestown.