Tenderloin – “Big Iron”/ Throw Rag – “Devil Woman”
Offering “Special thanks and apologies to Marty Robbins”, Kansas City’s (via Seattle?) Tenderloin and LA’s Throw Rag’s split 7″ is quite the unexpected understated affair. With full color “showdown” artwork from veteran LA punk rock artist Marc Rude, Tenderloin shines brightest with an acoustic (did he say acoustic?) take on “Big Iron” with vocals not provided by the ‘loins’ modern day Howlin’ Wolf, Ernie Locke. The perfect late ’70s soundtrack opener for an unmade sequel to Robert Altman’s California Split. Throw Rag’s schizophrenic Eagles-cum-mariachi-cum-Les Baxter on “Devil Woman” is enjoyable in that it isn’t Country, it isn’t Western and it isn’t Norteno. It’s more like a Reuben sandwich… it’s got a lot of crap in it that sounds god awful on paper, but tastes pretty good going down.