Album review- Harley Poe- Horrorful

CAUTION: Shock Rock ahead A few years ago, someone shared an Indianapolis and Indiana-centric Punk playlist with me. Although there was a lack of big names (Sloppy Seconds probably remain the biggest punk band to come out of the Circle City, or at least were until Margo and the Nuclear So and Sos), there was a lot of talent. One that especially grabbed me was a relatively obscure artist named Harley Poe. Now, a few years later, I see his name popping up on Reddit and gaining traction in a few places. I am not the first to say it, but Poe reminds me of the excitement of being in High School and hearing the Violent Femmes and the Dead Milkmen. Imagine that (if you were like me), but then never listening to anything else except maybe adding Misfits records into the mix. Harley Poe mix country goth with gross out horror movie lyrics. Like Spiritual forefather Alice Cooper, Harley Poe was a band, but I think the name is pretty much synonymous with Joe Whiteford. Bizarrely for a band that could almost pass for an unplugged Gwar, the core of the band started as Christian rockers. I am not sure I can reconcile that with a band who recorded an album named “Satan, Sex and No Regrets”, except I think he’s sincere (about his faith, if not the lyrics) and people probably thought the Cramps were the end of civilization, too. Fair warning, it’s hard to find a Harley Poe song without swearing. I can’t even pretend that most people will like it. But if you like genres that are called things like Ukulele Punk, Horror Folk, Acoustic Horror, and Folk Punk, if you find the Pogues more interesting than the Sex Pistols and if you think Woody Guthrie is more punk than Joe Woody Strummer, well, this might be for you.