SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROKY ERICKSON AND THE ALIENS – THE EVIL ONE

ROKY ERICKSON AND THE ALIENS
THE EVIL ONE
FIRE RECORDS

The 2005 documentary You’re Gonna Miss Me treated audiences to the wonderful and eccentric legacy of Texas-born singer-guitarist Roky Erickson. From his days in the influential psychedelic-garage band the 13^th Floor Elevators to his turbulent family life and battles with mental health, Erickson was shown to be a unique talent with enough demons to drive his intense musical creativity. Fans may have been happy enough to see his 13^th Floor Elevators music featured in films such as High Fidelity and the famous Lenny Kaye-assembled Nuggets compilation of classic garage band singles. Yet Erickson’s cult status made his solo material harder to come by, even after his death in 2019.

Thankfully Fire Records has come to the rescue and re-released a deluxe edition of the 1978-79 The Evil One by Roky Erickson and the Aliens, complete with rare photos and a collector’s book. The Evil One is arguably the best of Erickson’s entire catalogue with enough noise, macabre lyrics, and vocal intensity that would satisfy any punk, lo-fi, or even heavy metal or blues rock lover to no end. Right from the needle drop, track one’s “Two Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer)” bursts with a hook-heavy riff and lyrics of suffering and pain—in the Kremlin, no less. Riffs continue in tracks thereafter, with slower or faster tempos and added sound effects in “Night of the Vampire,” “Creature with the Atom Brain,” and “Click Your Fingers Applauding the Play.” The apex of the album, “Don’t Shake Me Lucifer,” is wonderfully catchy and could get any Halloween dance party or rock show going with gusto.

The song titles and lyrics might make it easy to assume that Erickson was too much of a lover of old horror and B-movies. Perhaps, but a close listen to lyrics like “They’ll scare it’s true/I think of demons for you” on “I Think of Demons” and “I am the doctor/I am the psychiatrist/To make sure they don’t think that they’d hammer their minds out” on “Bloody Hammer” seem to indicate that horrific imagery was the definitive vehicle for Erickson the writer. They are frightening, not always comprehensible, but always add to the hardness of the music and reflect a troubled but inspired rocker.

One can only wonder why such a record released at the height of the 1970s UK and North American punk revolution did not get more recognition. With so many references to horror and fuzzed and reverbed guitar sounds, The Evil One clearly blazed a path for later camp-and-riff heavy bands like The Cramps and fellow Texan Reverend Horton Heat. All the tracks combined on The Evil One indicate Erickson was not going to be a café stool poet. If he was going to dig into himself and explore his turbulent psyche in music, Erickson wanted all the rock ‘n’ roll elements he could utilize. No pretentious poetry, staring at one’s shoes, and harmony singing—for The Evil One, it was time to turn the amplifier up and shout. But that was the gift and may this Stu Cook-produced package be a reminder of a lost talent that had soul and power for the ages.

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