Psychobilly is a music style that fuses rockabilly with punk rock and wraps it in imagery borrowed from horror films, science fiction and B-movies. It took shape in the late 1970s and early 1980s, mainly in the UK, and it is known for a hard-slapped upright bass, very fast tempos and wild live shows.

Origins

The word "psychobilly" appeared in the 1970s, but the style as a scene is usually traced to two bands:

• The Cramps – an American band formed in the 1970s, who mixed rockabilly, garage rock, punk and trashy horror and science fiction themes. They described their own music as "psychobilly".
• The Meteors – a London band formed around 1980, widely seen as the first true psychobilly band. They turned the style into a scene of its own, with a dedicated, loyal and sometimes rowdy following.

In the early 1980s, a London club called the Klub Foot became an important home for the scene. Bands such as Demented Are Go, Guana Batz, King Kurt and Batmobile helped spread the style across Britain and continental Europe.

The sound

• Upright bass – the core of the style. It is slapped hard and fast, with a loud, clicking percussive attack that drives the whole band.
• Tempo – usually faster and heavier than classic rockabilly, closer to punk.
• Guitar – rockabilly licks played with more distortion and aggression.
• Vocals – shouted, growled or sung with exaggerated rockabilly mannerisms.
• Lyrics – zombies, monsters, aliens, graveyards, mad scientists and black humour, all served with a wink.

Over time, bands pulled the style in many directions. Some stayed close to rockabilly, others added influences from punk, metal or ska.

Psychobilly vs. rockabilly

	Rockabilly	Psychobilly
Era	1950s, with later revivals	from the late 1970s and 1980s
Roots	country + rhythm and blues	rockabilly + punk rock
Tempo	fast, swinging	faster and harder
Themes	love, cars, dancing, partying	horror, science fiction, black humour
Look	1950s style	1950s mixed with punk

Look and scene

The psychobilly look mixes 1950s style with punk:

• The "flat-top quiff" – a hairstyle with very short or shaved sides and back and a tall quiff at the front.
• Clothes – band shirts, bowling shirts, leather jackets, bleached jeans, braces, creepers and boots.
• Tattoos – horror and rock and roll motifs.

At gigs, fans of the style traditionally dance in a rough way known as the "wreck", which looks like a pit of colliding bodies. It is part of the fun for many people, but it is not for everyone.

The scene has always been strongest in Europe, especially in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, with festivals and weekenders that bring bands and fans together from many countries. In the 1990s and 2000s, the style also found new audiences in the United States and Latin America.

Related styles

• Rockabilly – the 1950s parent style.
• Punk rock – the other parent.
• Neo-rockabilly – a 1980s style close to psychobilly, but less extreme.
• Horror punk – shares the horror imagery but comes from punk rather than rockabilly.