Movie filled with Vegas sounds

What's the distance between a "B" and a "D"?

When you're talking about blood-splattered, gut-churning, low-budget exploitation flicks, it's about a mile -- if measured in flesh.

This much can be gleaned from "Killer Biker Chicks," some tawdry, awesomely tasteless, modern-day grindhouse fodder set in and around the Nevada desert.

It's a new, self-professed "D-movie," which the filmmakers describe, in part, as having a "formulaic, campy story with cheesy special effects."

And by "cheesy," they mean a Mount Vesuvius of Velveeta.

The title pretty much says it all -- girls with guns doing bad things to worse dudes. If by some impossible stretch of the imagination you're not sold yet, the soundtrack seals this sweaty deal.

A hard swingin', harder drinkin' collection of mostly Vegas bands with a few choice acts from across the country -- the lonesome twang of the Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, the fantastic outlaw country of Brant Vogel -- the compilation generally spans the seedier side of Americana and suits the film well.

Assembled by Robert Bell of well-liquored locals the Yeller Bellies, who contribute four cuts of loose-hipped, pedal-to-the-floor punky tonk, the disc spans everything from the sultry, 100-proof kiss-offs of the X-Girlfriend Experience, the harmonica fired hepcat rock of the Holy Smokes, the barroom blues of The Lucky Cheats, the femme fatale rockabilly of Jaxy & the 357s and more.

It's an ace collection of hellfire and heartache.

"It works well with the fact that the film's real low budget, the way that it's kind of washed out and filmed in the desert," says Bell, who helped scout locations for the movie and has a cameo in it as well. "I think the soundtrack plays towards that."

One of the things that the disc has working in its favor is how well the material flows together. With songs of a similar style separated from one another and intermingled with snippets of dialogue, it's all reminiscent of one of Quentin Tarantino's consistently entertaining soundtracks.

"After we compiled everything, I spent like a week burning different mixes, seeing what worked well with each other," Bell says. "I'd break it down by keys and then by tempo and maybe intros or outros. If they sounded too similar, I'd separate them."

A screening of "Killer Biker Chicks" will take place at the Bunkhouse on Aug. 29, followed by sets by the Yeller Bellies, The Lucky Cheats, Quint and the Cowpunk Calamity and the X-Girlfriend Experience, some of whom also appear in the movie itself.

But as well as the disc dovetails with the equally lurid flick that it was inspired by, it also works just fine without all the babes and bloodshed.

"It was a lot of fun putting it together and finding like-minded bands," Bell says. "I think it stands up pretty well on its own."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.