If you were rolling around Portland, Oregon a way back, you might have caught Bridge City Sinners vocalist Libby Lux and stand-up bassist Scott Michaud and some of their pals performing on the sidewalks of their hometown. For sure you would have remembered seeing and hearing Lux for her highly cultivated tattooed she-devil look, and Dark Folk vocal stylings. If Dark Folk is a new genre to you, Bridge City Sinners have also used Appalachian Death Rock and Black Grass (the dark version of Blue Grass naturally), to describe their sound. Even the band themselves admit nailing down the genre they most identify with is still rather difficult since getting together in 2016.
However, if you like your jams to focus on darker topics like death, the devil, and sordid, sin-driven storytelling–something both Bridge City Sinners and Motörhead both dig, you've come to the right place. The song comes from Motörhead's 1982 record, Iron Fist. The band had been on a high (in more ways than one) since 1980 with two killer albums, Ace of Spades and one of the greatest live metal records by any band, No Sleep 'til Hammersmith (1981). Iron Fist is the last Motörhead record featuring the dream trio of Lemmy, Philthy, and Fast Eddie Clarke. This is because Clarke, as he often did, would quit the band yet again while Motörhead was on tour supporting Iron Fist. The only thing different this time was, according to Lemmy (noted in his book White Line Fever), the band didn't "invite" him back.
There are a few things we can likely agree on when it comes to Iron Fist; it's a good record that had to compete with Ace of Spades and Hammersmith. It's also pretty angry, which translates to some great, snarly stuff from Lemmy and the boys. When it comes to "Go to Hell" the message of the song is built into the title–a final fuck you to that no-good ex of yours. And having Libby Lux delivering the song from the female POV helps the song take on a new kind of twist. Or maybe it makes it more twisted? Either way works really. Here's Lux heaping praise on Lemmy as one should:
"I'm a long-time Motörhead fan. I mean, Lemmy is a God. He's been a rock and roll God forever. We actually played with Head Cat just after Lemmy passed away. I think everybody was really heartbroken after we lost him. I try not to get too entangled in celebrity nonsense, but there are definitely a few people who have made a mark on the scene and on me as an individual that take on that rougher edge and darker vibe. He (Lemmy) was a pioneer for that genre of music. We're so honored to be here."
And let's not forget, Lemmy himself was a man of widely varied musical taste. He loved the Everly Brothers calling their harmonies ""supernatural" (Hit Parader/1984), and as we all know he loved ABBA. And mixing it up a bit on Löve Me Förever: A Tribute to Motörhead, the upcoming Motörhead tribute, is exactly what Bridge City Sinners do with their stringy ram jam cover of "Go To Hell." It would be right at home playing on the jukebox in a grimy bar right when a fist fight breaks out because someone looked at the wrong chick the right way.
Bridge City Sinner's "Go to Hell" is available now for digital download on all major platforms including the Psycho Waxx Bandcamp page where you can preorder yourself a 2LP copy of Löve Me Förever: A Tribute to Motörhead on lavish oxblood wax. Vinyl preorders ship by August 8th.
