The Cramps were a bunch of trash-soaked, horny rock n roll zombie punks who worshiped at the alter of American junk culture. Their music was a celebration of gut-bucket rockabilly and b-movie schlock. Songs the Lord Taught Us, their reverb-soaked debut, is all of these things, not to mention a freaking great time. Singer Lux Interior is a madman, hooting and howling as if possessed by the angry ghosts of Carl Perkins, Little Richard, and Elvis. The guitars are soaked in feedback and echo, the drums sound like tin cans, and the lyrics are about lonely Martian kids, zombies dancing, cutting someone's head off and putting itin your T.V., and sanitation engineers. "Mystery Plane" is an amped-up, droning stomp, "The Mad Daddy" is too hip to be true, and "Feaver" proves that even when they slow things down, the Cramps know what they're doing. And on top of that you get a totally awesome cover of the sixties garage classic "Strychnine," and "Sunglasses After Dark," which features Luz sounding really angry for an unkown reason (I'm sure he has a good one, though). The menacing "Garbageman" stomps with unhalting abandon, and "What's Behind the Mask" is hilarious. A good time for all. review from http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the_cramps/songs_the_lord_taught_us/