CCMusic.com

As the frontman for the ferocious Lazy Cowgirls for over two decades, Pat Todd was a SoCal garage/punk godfather. In 2005, however, he sent the Cowgirls to the great saloon in the sky in order to get a fresh start. As you can take the boy outta the garage but you can't always take the garage outta the boy, traces of the Cowgirls' high-velocity vibe remain in The Rankoutsiders' sound. They follow a similar path to the latter-era Cowgirls - fast and loud old-school punk on one hand, and hard but heartfelt honky tonk on the other. The Rankoutsiders - part Chuck Berry, part Hank Williams, part Rolling Stones, part Johnny Thunders - are the perfect vehicle to bring Pat Todd's visions to life, rocking like raging fury one minute and swaying like an Indian summer breeze the next. The album reflects the diversity of American rock n' roll. Love, hope, sex, death, betrayal, renewal - it's all here. Pat Todd's songwriting is a road map that leads back to the self ? an existential longing to reside in the aesthetics of self-creation. Some call it art, others the blues, soul, country, rock n' roll. The Rankoutsiders are Pat Todd on acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocalist, Nick Alexander on electric and acoustic guitar, Kevin Keller on electric and acoustic guitar, and vocals on "The Ring, The Bottle & The Gun", Steven Vigh on bass along with drummer Walter Phelan. The Past Came Callin' was produced and engineered by former Sparks guitarist, Earle Mankey (The Cramps, Concrete Blonde, The Beach Boys, Possum Dixon). CD version comes in digipak.