Shimmy Shimmy Dang!

It’s tough not to wiggle your ass a bit when Louisville’s Ladybirds really kick things in on Shimmy Shimmy Dang! Hell, even the title sort of makes you want to slick your hair back and roll up your shirtsleeves. It’s easy to slap the “throwback” tag on the ’Birds, what with their 1950s-inspired guitar licks and sock hop modus operandi, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear this album is equal parts The Crystals and The Ramones. Sarah Teeple’s sweet vocals would sound perfectly comfortable reeling off lines like “da doo ron ron,” but she instead belts out numbers like the country-seared “Let’s Start a Family (Tonight)” and the impossibly catchy and rowdy “I’m Gonna Scream,” adding a modern smirk. Recorded and mixed by Kevin Ratterman, Shimmy Shimmy Dang! sounds superb blasting out of your speakers and, quite frankly, is just a whole lot of fun.