Their silver anniversary release,
These Evil Things finds
the Meteors settled comfortably into their position as
the Ramones of the psychobilly scene. That's the same double-edged sword that
the Ramones suffered under for the last several years of their existence: singer/guitarist
Paul Fenech and whoever else is in the room at the time are comfortably ensconced in their position as the longest-lasting psychobilly group now that
the Cramps have finally disappeared. But
These Evil Things, like
the Meteors' other recent albums, rarely rises above "pleasant" on the whole listenability scale. The small handful of instrumental tracks ("3 Against 1," the
Santo & Johnny-like Southwestern atmospherics of "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Killer") are probably the best things here, just because
Fenech's voice is pretty much shot at this point in his career and he's not doing much better on the lyrics. A song called "Scream You Fucker Scream" should simply be more inspired and nasty than this one turned out to be. The cover of
Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" is a cute idea competently done, but nothing more. It may be time for
the Meteors, like
the Ramones, to go out with dignity intact. ~ Stewart Mason