Shaun Young

Shaun Young

Wiggle Walk (Goofin)

Ya gotta love rockabilly for its limited sound and handful of subjects – cars, girls, the occasional scrape with the law. Nothing wrong with that; it keeps the sound pure and identifiable, and in the case of Shaun Young's Wiggle Walk, clean and crisp ("One Two Three Carburetors"), sinewy and snaky ("Having More Fun Than the Law Should Allow"). Wiggle Walk taps a goldmine of genre classic covers, like "The Fire of Love" and "Rocket in My Pocket," matching them expertly with Young's nine originals, including the title track, on which Young raises a black Ace comb in salute to Buddy Holly with "When You're In Love," written by Crickets Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison. It's well worth noting that Young's band is a muscular outfit that includes guitarists Bobby Horton and Leroy Biller, drummer Buck Johnson, T. Jarrod Bonta on keyboards, and Billy Horton on bass fiddle; they give Young's sure-handed guitar its muscular backbone. Wiggle Walk is such a good recording, in fact, it prompts the question of how Young manages to stay under the Austin radar. The nattily dressed guitarist ruled the local rockabilly scene in the late Eighties with his band High Noon and now moonlights with the New Blue Moon Boys at the Continental Club's semiannual Elvis tributes. His suede vocals with shades of blue on "I've Found What I Was Looking For" and "Don't Ask Me Why" are vivid testament to his King vox. Elvis may have left the building, but Shaun Young's here to stay.