Fusing the swing of classic rockabilly with the hot-wired energy and ghoulish imagery of the Misfits, Detroit's the Koffin Kats prove that high-octane psychobilly is still alive and kicking in the American Midwest. The Koffin Kats were formed in 2003 by lead singer and upright bassist Vic Victor and guitarist/vocalist Tommy Koffin, who had been part of the Motor City punk scene for some time before trying their hands at the doom-struck twang of their punk-rockabilly fusion. The band has had a number of drummers come and go over the years, with Damian Detroit having the longest run (from 2003 to 2005); E-Ball Walls, who played with the Kats for a spell in 2003, rejoined the lineup in 2007. The trio released their first album, simply titled The Koffin Kats, in 2004, and hit the road in support of the record. Since then, the Koffin Kats have maintained a busy tour schedule, frequently gigging on the West Coast as well as closer to home, and have released two more long-players, 2005's Inhumane and 2006's Straying from the Pack.

For nearly 20 years, the Queers -- guitarist Joe Queer and a rotating band of punk iconoclasts that now includes Dave on bass and Lurch Nobody on drums -- have been the lone punk voice emanating from the Portsmouth, New Hampshire wilderness. From the band's first EPs on Doheney Records in the early '80s ("Love Me" and "Kicked Out of the Webelos") to its first full-length on Lookout! in 1990 (Grow Up) to last year's triumphant Beyond the Valley of the Assfuckers, the Queers have brooked no compromise in presenting their increasingly visceral punk manifesto to a petrified world. Joe Queer has acknowledged the band's debt to the Ramones -- when he was brainstorming band names in the beginning, the Black Ramones was a contender -- but it's just as familiar with the early punk trash bratism of the Replacements and the Dead Boys. But unlike their influences, the Queers haven't retired (the Ramones), grown introspective (the shattered Replacements), or died (the Dead Boys). The Queers have become even more virulent and abrasive with the passage of time and can still turn out a punk anthem with the power of "Journey to the Center of Your Empty Fucking Skull" (from Beyond the Valley). But there is also an inexplicably melodic sense of pop at the heart of the Queers' punk politic, a quality that Joe Queer has noted as an attempt to punk up the Beach Boys. As the Queers once again return to the Lookout! stable with the February 20 release of Today, the question becomes: What direction will the band take in the new millennium? The smart money is on brain-boiling, face-peeling punk, with a side of smartass pop.