Eldorado and the Ruckus: Planet of the Vampires II

Eldorado and the Ruckus features Eldorado Del Rey formerly of the Porch Ghouls. While the Porch Ghouls had Cramps comparisons, The Ruckus can inevitably be compared to Jon Spencer and the Blues Explosion. Reading some of the song titles and the press for this record I was hoping for more of an early Gun Club vibe but didn’t get it. The press also mentioned a conscious desire to get away from the Blues Explosion sound but I would say they were not entirely successful. Eldorado and the Ruckus sound like a looser less cacophonic version of the Blues Explosion with a more humble delivery and more straight forward guitar driven sound. The good news is that Planet of the Vampires will not get on your nerves after repeated listening. Eldorado’ vocals are not always prominent in the mix and he doesn’t always have the strongest delivery, but the end result is a lot of fun. You could easily imagine these guys as friends of yours who happen to put on one heck of good show. Not a work of blues virtuosos by any means, but a solid unassuming delivery of a jumping good time, and an independent one at that. Give the Planet of the Vampires II a spin a couple of times and you’ll find yourself humming the tunes in your sleep, troubled sleep that is. Good bluesy rock with a fun vibe, and I don’t mean the type that frat boys like. These guys are based in Memphis and Eldorado is definitely channeling a little Elvis – the skinny one. The record was recorded at Sun Studios. They’ve got some cool promo photos too. Check ’em out.