Psychobilly

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A style of rock music blending the fast, raw energy of punk with the twangy, retro sound of rockabilly and horror-themed imagery
2. A subgenre of rock that mixes punk aggression with 1950s rockabilly rhythms, often accompanied by gothic or B-movie style visuals
3. Music combining punk rock intensity and the upbeat slapping bass of rockabilly, popular with fans who favour horror and vintage fashion

Etymology: Psychobilly is a blend of "psycho" and "rockabilly," and the two halves carry the whole story. Rockabilly was the fast, raw 1950s fusion of country and rhythm and blues, the sound of early Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins, with its slapped upright bass and twangy guitars. The "psycho" half points to the horror and cult-movie imagery that the subgenre borrowed alongside that sound. The result is a style that kept rockabilly's stripped-down energy and added a darker, macabre look and lyrical world: zombies, monsters, B-movie thrills, and gothic imagery. Bands in the late 1970s and 1980s, shaped by punk's aggression, began fusing the two traditions into one act. The blend therefore names a musical genre and a visual culture at once.