There’s country music, there’s punk rock, there’s horror, and then there’s whatever the hell Wilson St. Pub & Sluthouse Band were cooking up on Pirates of the West Bench.
Originally released on 1332 Records, this 14-song blast is a gloriously weird collision of honky-tonk twang, trashy punk attitude, horror-movie imagery, and a seriously unhealthy obsession with the undead. The album doesn't waste much time establishing its territory. You know pretty quickly that this isn't going to be your grandfather's country record.
And that's exactly what makes it work.
 
Pirates of the West Bench has the feel of a band that genuinely doesn't give a damn about genre boundaries. Acoustic guitars and country-flavored melodies sit alongside songs about zombies, trucks, death, and general bad behavior. “Blue Collar Zombie,” “Zombie Girl,” “Redneck Zombies,” and the title track make the band's priorities pretty obvious, but there's more going on here than a collection of novelty horror songs. There's a loose, trashy, barroom energy running through the entire record that gives it a personality all its own.
 
The album's greatest strength is its sense of fun.  Nothing feels overly polished or calculated. It's rough around the edges, occasionally ridiculous, and completely committed to the bit.
 
If you like your country music with a little more blood on it, your punk rock with a little twang, and your horror with a healthy sense of humor, Pirates of the West Bench is a genuine underground oddity worth digging up.
 
Fourteen tracks of country-fried horror, punk attitude, zombies, trucks, and bad decisions.
 
This is the kind of record 1332 Records was made for.