The Reverend Horton Heat’s “Spend a Night in the Box” shows a lot of growth for the Reverend. The songs on this album show a significant improvement since his last album, “Space Heater” — it sounds as if he has stepped away from the effects that he’s used on past albums and gone with a clean chrome tone turned up to give it that rusty growl.
What’s great about the Reverend’s style is that he could rock a blues joint with the track “Spend a Night in the Box,” a country-western bar with “The Bedroom Again” or even a punk concert with “The Millionaire.”
It seems on this album the Reverend has taken a new approach to “preaching” his ideas to the listener.
He’s balanced out the sound of his band, and made his lyrics more apparent. “Sleeper Coach Driver,” for example, has the classic feel of the old rockabilly tune “Hot Rod Lincoln” by Charlie Ryan. The opening riff on “Hand It To Me” is real catchy — it was in my head for days.
The Reverend has always been clever with lyrics and has always kept us laughing — and on this album I feel he’s opening new doors.
Instead of screaming out the lyrics or pumping up the volume, the Reverend has chosen to settle down and make his lyrics more prominent.
The group works well together: his gritty guitar sound is there, Jimbo Wallace is sounding better then ever on bass, and drummer Scott Churilla is doing more than just keeping the beat — he’s really putting his blood and guts into it. This is one of the Reverend’s best albums to date. Keep it up, Reverend!