Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol - "Ca$h Grab"
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol is a trio from Austin, Texas whose riffs are as memorable as their name. The group has been making music since 2017, so it's no surprise that their sound has undergone some evolutions, ranging from an era the band aptly described as "doom wop" to unapologetically goofy "big dumb riffs." However, certain characteristics are constant: massive, buzzing guitar tones provided by vocalist/guitarist Leo Lydon's eight-string, viscous, distorted bass from bassist/vocalist Aaron Metzdorf, and the explosive rhythms of drummer Sean St. Germain. In spite of the unforgettable, towering wall of sound these guys generate, the most important element of their music for me is the emotional expressiveness. Sure, Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol has been called "the Primus of doom" for a good reason, but if you listen closely, you'll hear heart-rending, often refreshingly blunt lyrics that tackle issues that many of us have faced head-on.
Since the release of their wildly successful third album Big Dumb Riffs in 2024, the band has toured relentlessly, sharing the stage with the likes of The Sword, Death From Above 1979, Pigs x9, and King Buffalo. Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol also curates and plays at their own annual music festival, Big Dumb Fest in Austin, Texas. Somewhere in the middle of all this, the trio crafted their fourth full-length album Ca$h Grab, a powerful collection of songs that marries "big dumb riffs" with the saccharine delivery of "doom wop." But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol - Ca$h Grab
There has always been a discernible veil over even the goofiest songs from Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol, a shield that often cloaks painful subject matter in humor and volume. On Ca$h Grab, this covering is nearly transparent as the band wears their heart on their sleeve, delivering their deepest, most raw, and most direct album to date while never compromising on their signature sound. And, in utilizing "poppier" tones, Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol has found the perfect vehicle with which to incorporate a massive infusion of sweetness and vulnerability.
Ca$h Grab boasts fourteen tracks and, although they're all relatively short and sweet, each song possesses a clear-cut identity. Freakshow opens the album in a powerfully poignant way, moving the listener with delicate, desolate verses before slamming them into a wall of that massive, trademark Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol sound. Tracks such as I Doubt It and The Disappearing Man are easily the most infectious, featuring an irresistible sing-song lilt and memorable choruses. Peaches, the first single the band released from Ca$h Grab, really seems to sum up the attitude of the album. While combining gritty darkness and saccharine melody in heavy syrup, RBBP smiles through broken teeth as they remind us "life is full of peaches."
My favorite songs on the album are arguably the deepest lyrically, and these tracks tend to hit me on a very personal level. Follow Through, for example, provides some of the most direct lyricism on Ca$h Grab, boldly confronting dysfunctional family dynamics. While noticeably confident in its delivery, the song is simultaneously heart-rending:
"I
I never asked to be born by you
You
You never asked for a pain in the ass
You
You should have never gave up
(That's) on you
We
We're not the reason we can't follow through."
Bough Down is another revealing track on which the tone is painfully raw and fed up as the lyrics confront a loved one who struggles/struggled with addiction:
"Are you living or you dying
Are you even fucking trying
Life is
A gift
And you trash it
Let yourself down
I won't carry your casket."
Appearing at the very end of the album, fourteenth track Lush brings it all together, taking a comprehensive look at having to grow up too fast followed by periods of struggle. In spite of this, the narrator takes his share of the accountability as he realizes this trauma, while undeniably part of him, doesn't define him:
"As selfish as I've ever been
I know I've hit my peak
And when I even look back on it
I wasn't ready
And you weren't ready
To grow old
Youth is a robbery
I was told
Now it's a part of me
And I finally get it."
Final Thoughts
After nearly a decade of making a truly one-of-a-kind style of music and melting the faces off of a sea of fans at their live shows, the release of Ca$h Grab is a very natural next step for Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol. The album is still as crushingly heavy as Big Dumb Riffs and as deceptively sweet as Doom Wop, but Ca$h Grab's real intensity comes in its immensely personal, unfettered songwriting. It's an album that anyone can relate to on a deep level as it relays a lifelong journey of survival, challenging things, asking the tough questions, healing, moving on, and most importantly, finally choosing oneself.
Ca$h Grab was released on October 23, 2026. The album is available in digital, LP, CD, and cassette formats on the band's Shopify and Bandcamp pages (links below).
More About Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol
Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol Is:
Leo Lydon - Guitar, Vocals
Aaron Metzdorf - Bass, Vocals
Sean St. Germain - Drums
You can follow the band and listen to their music at these links:
A massive thank you to US/THEM Group for the promo!
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