The 1970s punk movement was a direct descendant of early rock ‘n’ roll, with the shared DNA of leather, power chords and the shirking of bourgeois decorum. So it’s only natural that those two adjacent styles would eventually birth a subgenre known as psychobilly, which found bands like the Cramps and the Fleshtones straddling the sounds of the past and the present. Detroit’s Koffin Kats are of the same ilk, and for 15 years, they’ve blended the pompadoured traditionalism of rockabilly with the sneers of the thrashiest barroom punk. The Kats have played Spokane several times, most recently in 2014, and it’s worth seeing them just to witness tattooed, impeccably-coiffed frontman Vic Victor swinging around his standup bass like it’s made of balsa wood.
— Nathan Weinbender