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Pork Barrel Classics:
The Best Albums to Crawl from the Carolinas

BAD CHECKS - HIGH DOLLAR

by Andrew Helminger

What happens when you mix a little punk rock with a monster truckload full of redneck culture?  Ask the Bad Checks.  This Chapel Hill band hogties the punk-a-billy sound of the Cramps and stuffs it full of blues-based country rock.  The Bad Checks then top it all off with lyrics rooted in the back alleys and gutters of the South.

The Checks have been trashing up the local scene since the mid-'80s.  The band's recorded a handful of albums through the years, including 1997's High Dollar, released on Chapel Hill's Yep Rock label.  Not only is High Dollar one of the best punk-a-billy records to surface from the Carolinas, it's one of the best punk-a-billy albums of all time.  This album stands up next to the best music the Cramps ever served up.

High Dollar opens with "Cuppa Joz," an ode to caffeine where the rhythm guitar chugs along like a runaway train.  Dueling harmonica and guitar solos further fuel the song's momentum.  The train picks up even more speed on "Who's Got My Money," where the rhythm guitar starts throwing off trebly sparks.  On tracks like "Days One Thru Seven" and "Philosaslur," Robin Mann's guitar riffs conjure up the sounds of Joe Walsh, sustaining the country rock feel.

With songs like "It Ain't So Hard" and "Emotional Masochist," the Bad Checks also bring their redneck spin to traditional punk and hardcore.  On "Emotional Masochist," the Checks even borrow a few things from the Sex Pistol's playbook--it's "Anarchy In The U.K." southern style.  High Dollar closes with "Couch," an angst-filled romp that answers the question: What do redneck slacker punks really want?  As you might guess, the answer isn't particularly PC.

Although the musical styles the Bad Checks cook up on High Dollar vary, their words have a thematic consistency that pulls the album together.  Over the course of the record, the lyrics are both a celebration and a mocking of southern culture.  This might be hard to understand if you're not a Southerner, but if you can comprehend why some Southerners love The Dukes of Hazard, you're halfway there.

High Dollar is fun, disposable punk "rawk."  The looseness of the music along with the fact the Bad Checks don't take themselves too seriously are a major appeal.  Sure, there may be elements lifted from the Cramps, Joe Walsh, and the Sex Pistols (and would you believe Iron Butterfly?), but it really doesn't matter because the Bad Checks have taken these influences and created a sound all their own.

If High Dollar gets your feet stompin', you may want to search out Live at 9:30, the band's 1990 live recording on Loretta Records.  This album captures the Bad Checks's stage spunk and includes live versions of "Do Me Right" and "Redneck on Broadway," both of which appear on High Dollar.

buy this album (sorry, no samples)

read about the bad checks's show at cat's cradle