The 1982 Listening Post - Stray Cats - Built for Speed

 Reviewed by Chris Roberts

Released: June 7 1982 Stray Cats Built For Speed Genre: Rockabilly Toonces Allen’s Rating: 5 out of 5 Chris’s Rating: 4 out of 5 Highlights: Rock This Town Stray Cat Strut Rumble In Brighton Runaway Boys Allen's Additional Highlights: Built For Speed Rev It Up & Go Little Miss Prissy At Sepulveda Junior High, the metalheads dug Ozzy and Judas Priest. New wave kids idolized Duran Duran and Adam and the Ants. Punk was just scary! There was a tribal affiliation to musical taste, expressed through clothes and hair, that was a key indicator of coolness. I wanted more than anything to belong to a tribe, but my Licorice Pizza and Miller’s Outpost dreams were limited by a Star Wars action-figure salary. I don’t remember when I first became aware of the Stray Cats. But courtesy of the Happy Days propaganda machine, I knew the Fonz was the epitome of cool, and on a trip to the Glendale Galleria, I came home with the Stray Cats “Rock This Town/You Can’t Hurry Love” 7-incher. I was 99 cents closer to popularity! The rockabilly single ended up being a big hit with my Mom, though it was my dad who brought home the Built For Speed LP. (My dad’s hot take: “The Stray Cats can’t sing worth shit—they sound more like the crappy band that played at our high school dances.) So, in addition to being my passport to coolness, Built For Speed was something of a Roberts family album. At least until the Dippity-Do in my hair started to fail. There’s a “Freaks & Geeks” episode where Sam attempts to impress the head cheerleader with a powder blue disco jumpsuit. Of course, it’s 1980, and DISCO SUCKS (even though MST3K’s Joel Hodgson is the manager at the disco clothing store) so Sam’s plan backfires, and everyone in school laughs at him. I’ve got a Mad Libs version of that story, using rockabilly instead of disco, a handknit argyle sweater vest, and a mom-styled pompodour. The rockabilly look is challenging for someone who isn’t fully grown. It really requires towering Silvio Dante hair, slick Fonzie attire, and (if you can drive) some old school wheels. While the Stray Cats cultivated a 50s meets 80s sensibility, a half-measure, like say, hair gel instead of pomeade, or Toughskins instead of Levi’s … you’re not going rock this town, that town, or any town. I don’t even remember if there was a rockabilly tribe at Sepulveda. It’s easy to lump the Stray Cats into the Duran Duran/MTV/proto-boy band wave that prioritized looks over songs. That, and the LARPing piece of rockabilly, always made the Stray Cats music feel secondary. But there’s still lots of runaway boys and double talkin’ babies dressing 50s-style for the Blasters and Social Distortion shows today, part of that symbiotic relationship between rock/rockabilly with classic car culture that keeps 50s fetishism alive. Nobody writes songs about ma-ma-my Corolla, but we can imagine our ride is something a little less fuel efficient when the Stray Cats are on. Built For Speed is more than the album equivalent of a Mel’s Drive-In. First, there’s Rockpile founder/producer Dave Edmunds’ pedigree as a cultivator of 50s sounds. Then there’s the band—Lee Rocker, Slim Jim Phantom and Brian Setzer—handsome, stylish AND talented musicians. When the material is great, like “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” the Stray Cats could be either 50s or 80s stars. The out-of-control bounce in “Rock This Town” and slinky bass in “Stray Cat Strut,” are so much fun. I cannot resist singing “Stray Cat Strut.” OK, I think my dad was right to call out the vocals. Brian Setzer had the look and the licks, but he ain’t Elvis or Roy Orbison. I don’t always buy his act, but most of the time he’s serviceable. As for the rest, “This Side” (the A-side) of Built For Speed is excellent. In addition to “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut,” there’s “Rumble In Brighton,” which depicts an 80s UK version of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, wherein the rockabilly cats scratch and hiss in the alley against mighty mean skinheads, whilst all the cops can do is stroke their bobbysticks. It’s a solid teen anthem. And per the rockabilly rules and regulations, there’s two classic car fetish songs, the title track “Built for Speed” and “Rev It Up and Go,” which celebrate the joys of a junker 39 Ford, as well as a customized-to-perfection 57 Chevy. No chassis shaming here. “That Side” kicks off with the blistering and belligerent “Runaway Boys” but otherwise it’s a meow-mixed bag. “Lonely Summer Nights” is the slow jam, but defanged and declawed, the Cats sound like they’re getting ready for the mother-son dance. The energy picks back up with “Double Talkin’ Baby,” and Eddie Cochrane’s “Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie,” but there’s some missing teeth. Stil, it’s not a bad ride.