Royal to the loyal

The Amazing Crowns were long one of my favorite bands. Thanks to a chance encounter with their cd at a Camelot Music listening station in the summer of ’98, I was immediately addicted. Much tot he consternation of the girl I was dating at the time, I played their debut, self-titled full length damn near every day, and everywhere I fucking went.

There’s just something infectious about a rockabilly band that plays at the speed of punk rock. I’d never even HEARD of the term psychobilly at this point. All I knew was that this band kicked fucking ass, and I wanted as much of that sound as I could find. My dad’s Stray Cats albums worked sometimes, but often, only this cd could fill my needs.

Formerly the Amazing Royal Crowns, the band was forced to change its name (taken from a can of pomade) following a lawsuit involving none other than Royal Crown Revue. It’s funny, especially when one considers the ironic fact that RCR themselves had been the subject of a lawsuit regarding their name and RC (Royal Crown) Cola.

Nonetheless, the band soldiered on, and managed to release both a live album and second full-length, Royal. During the course of their career, I was lucky to see the band four times, and every performance was a keeper. As a matter of fact, I have setlists from every show. They broke up in November of 2001, and that was it. Lead singer Jason ‘King’ Kendall tried his luck fronting the Deterrents, a more straight-ahead rock outfit, but the last I heard of them was in 2002.

However, in addition to the live album and two full-lengths, the Crowns put out a couple of seven-inches. One of them was for the Sub Pop Singles Club in 1999. It was pressed on clear blue vinyl, and contained two songs. “Chop Shop” was released on Royal. However, the b-side, “Amateur Night” was only available on the single, which you can pick up for five bucks at Sub Pop’s webstore. It’s fantastic, and a good intro to the band’s sound.

the Amazing Crowns – “Amateur Night”