Unearthing Creature Feature's GREATEST SHOW

By REID BRITT 

Ever since I moved into My Own House, it has been a Halloween tradition to have a “home haunt." We decorate the porch or the garage — one year even the kitchen — and do our best to give all the local kids great memories of Halloween (and hopefully a few nightmares).

And ever since we started our home haunt, I have devoted LOTS of time every year to the music, be it multiple CDs on rotation, or custom mix CDs, or iTunes playlists. Back in Ought-Seven, however, a CD arrived in my mail  — ON HALLOWEEN, no less — that totally changed my playlist for the year. In fact, I cancelled the playlist and just played the one CD, because it was perfect for the festivities.

The CD was by the band Creature Feature, and sported the jaunty title THE GREATEST SHOW UNEARTHED.  It sounded like many things I’d heard before combined into an album that sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before. Unlike the majority of “horror rock,” this isn’t morbid, sad, depressive ruminations on death. Rather, herein swirled those perfect Halloween memories: chilly nights spent in cheap plastic costumes running from house to house and hoping, PRAYING that the stuffed mannequin on that porch in the skeleton mask was just a mannequin.

Curtis Rx and Erik X of Creature Feature.

The album kicked off with the title track: a ska-tinged manifesto for all to follow promising “madness murder [and] dismay.”  “Buried Alive” — billed in the liner notes as “a day in the life of...Mr Edgar Allen Poe” — follows, with the protagonist proclaiming “inside of this sublime box I lie with the hopes of being buried alive."  Other standout tracks include the zombie-fest of “Aim for the Head” and “A Gorey Demise,” which riffs on Edward Gorey as townsfolk recite their annual obituaries, Gashlycrumb Tinies-stylee.  There’s also an homage to the THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode "To Serve Man," as well as songs about alien body snatchers, necrophilia and kidnapping.  It’s all so damn bouncy and catchy and infectious that ya can’t HELP but sing along.

The band consisted of the duo of Curtis Rx on vocals, guitar and various other instruments, and Eric X on keyboards. If there is precedent for Creature Features’ sound, it would be Oingo Boingo (imagine the whole band entrusted with scoring Tim Burton’s films, instead of just Danny Elfman hisself).  But truly, the sound is like artist Gris Grimly’s delicious cover art brought to life ... gruesome whimsy incarnate. If Mr. Dark’s travelling carnival from Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” had a house band, Creature Feature would be it.

Since GREATEST SHOW, Creature Feature has issued the equally lovely IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT in 2011 and several singles. Curtis RX also issued a more guitar-based solo project under the band name Rufus Rex in 2011. As of this writing, Creature Feature have JUST released the title track to their new album AMERICAN GOTHIC, which has a planned Halloween ‘15 release.

Looks like I will have a new soundtrack for THIS year’s haunt ...

Via: www.creaturefeaturemusic.com

REID BRITT lives in Scenic Western North Carolina with his wife Alison and his daughter Lily.  He has been a Monster Kid from a young age ("There ARE Sasquatches down in the woods, Mom!") and still believes in the Power of Rock n' Roll.  When he's not watching horror movies, he likes to paint, and you can check out his paint slinging at spookywolffe.tumblr.com, Instagram as Reiddrorings,  Facebook as Spookywolffe. and Twitter as @spookywolffe.

Son of Sam's INTO THE NIGHT is a bloody huge success

By REID BRITT

Hot on the heels of 1999 reunion tour of Glenn Danzig’s first post-Misfits band from the ‘80s, then-Danzig/Samhain guitarist Todd Youth was so bloody inspired by the NOVEMBER COMING FIRE-ness of tour that he cobbled together an album’s worth of songs inspired the band’s sinister sounds. He then enlisted former Samhain members London May (drums) and Steve Zing (bass).  AFI’s Davey Havok contributed lyrics and vocals. Thus, Son of Sam (see what they did there?) was born. In 2001, SONGS FROM THE EARTH (on AFI’s label Nitro Records) was unleashed, complete with the blessing and a guest appearance from Danzig his-damn-self.

But that’s another album for another column.

By 2008, Youth was out of Danzig. Davey Havok and AFI had moved on to major label/Hot Topic success.

And Son of Sam was back.

Joining Youth and the returning Steve Zing was then-current Danzig drummer Karl Rosqvist. Havok was too busy with alt stardom, so Youth brought in Chelsea Smiles bandmate Skye Vaughan-Jayne (billed on the disc as the more ominous “Ian Thorne”) on vocals.

Released on horror rock indie Horror High Records, INTO THE NIGHT is a dark gem of an album.

What’s surprising about INTO THE NIGHT is just how un-Samhain-y it is at times.  Oh sure, “Suffer” and “Death Baby” could sit comfortably on a Danzig album.  But the lead track, “The Bleeding”?  If you want precedent for that sound, that vibe, that churn, you have to look to a different source...

The Damned. The Damned were one of the UK’s original punk bands. In their nearly four decades, they’ve dabbled in three-chord punk, psychedelia, metal, goth and dreamy pop.  What they’ve never really been — in spite of the name and singer David Vanian’s vampiric stage persona — are a horror band. (There is a “however” here, but I’ll address it in another column.)

“The Bleeding” and the titular “Into the Night” both take pages from the Damned songbook, circa MACHINE GUN ETIQUETTE (see “Love Song”) and the “Nasty” single.  “Twisted Soul” could have oozed very comfortably onto any number of Damned ‘80s albums (THE BLACK ALBUM might’ve been the best fit, but I could hear it on PHANTASMAGORIA, as well).

The Damned, however, aren’t the only non-Danziggy influence to be found on the album.  Witness “Dark Life”, which channels the diabolical stylings of...

The Cult?

More specifically, Death Cult, the band that served as the immediate precursor to the “She Sells Sanctuary”/”Love Removal Machine” Cult as we know them.  In spite of the same, Death Cult weren’t horror in the least; they were “positive punk”, more spiritual in nature, and sorta goth without the trappings. “Dark Life” mixes Ian Astbury’s vocal stylings, Billy Duffy’s guitar style, and the “tribal” percussive patterns of Death Cult’s “Horse Nation” with a peppering of the ol’ darkity dark dark and cooks up a true death rock anthem.

Son of Sam.

But lest we get too far off course, “Sons of New” and “Darkness Calls” bring the album back to the source with slices of Samhain-soaked sounds reminiscent of SONGS FROM THE EARTH.

So what to make of INTO THE NIGHT?  As a strict Samhain tribute, it fails from being overly ambitious and not sticking to script.  However, as a sophomore album from a project band that probably didn’t even NEED a second album, it’s a bloody huge success.  By bringing in influences from less obvious sources, INTO THE NIGHT succeeds.  By recruiting a singer that plays the Vocal Chameleon role enough to honor the influences while still pulling the songs together as the work of one band, Son of Sam succeeds.

INTO THE NIGHT has been the “road trip” soundtrack to many nocturnal journeys. Through the sheer force of being “dark” and accessible, INTO THE NIGHT compels repeated listens. Son of Sam has never released a follow-up — doubtless never shall — leaving INTO THE NIGHT as an unheralded epitaph to a legendary band’s unholy offspring.

The album is still available for download from Amazon, and presumably iTunes. Horror High still maintains a Facebook page, but the website link leads back to the FB page, so I’m not sure if physical CDs are still around. I encourage my horror rock loving readers to seek it out, enjoy, embrace the Dark Life.

REID BRITT lives in Scenic Western North Carolina with his wife Alison and his daughter Lily.  He has been a Monster Kid from a young age ("There ARE Sasquatches down in the woods, Mom!") and still believes in the Power of Rock n' Roll.  When he's not watching horror movies, he likes to paint, and you can check out his paint slinging at spookywolffe.tumblr.com, Instagram as Reiddrorings,  Facebook as Spookywolffe. and Twitter as @spookywolffe.

I come not to bury Jerry Only, but to praise FAMOUS MONSTERS

By REID BRITT 

There are several schools of thought when it comes to the Misfits:

1. Everything post-Danzig is complete shite.

2. The Danzig era is classic, but hey, this ‘90s stuff is pretty cool.

3. Wait, WHO’S singing now? 

I’m actually in the 4th category: I like it all. Yes, even DEVIL’S RAIN.

Don’t judge me.

But today, we have not come to bury Jerry Only, but to praise the ‘90s Misfits. In this particular case, the second of the “New ‘Fits” albums, 1999’s FAMOUS MONSTERS.

Of course, Jerry’s pre-millennial kids (also including his brother Doyle on pummeling guitar, drummer Dr. Chud, and Michale Graves on vocals) were Misfits in the “band influenced by the Misfits” sense, as the songs were clearly far-removed and more metal than the earlier incarnation of the band. Graves certainly channels the stylings of Glenn Danzig at times, but he’s very much his own vocalist. Graves is the main reason this whole reunion worked, in my opinion. The Misfits aura lives and dies on the charisma of the vocalist, and Graves was definitely the fiend for the job.

The involvement of Daniel Rey, whose production similarly de-punked the Ramones (on HALFWAY TO SANITY, BRAIN DRAIN and ADIOS AMIGOS —  awesome platters, all!), makes for a smoother, more melodic experience than the rawer WALK AMONG US or the foookin’ brooootal EARTH A.D/WOLF’S BLOOD.

Which isn’t to say that the songs don’t kick arse, because they most assuredly kick arse. After the “Kong at the Gates” intro, the album barely lets up, with only the ‘50s-esque ballad “Saturday Night” breaking up the momentum.

Now, if you are any sort of horror punk fan, you’ve probably figured out the E-Z Horror Punk Songwriting method, which consists of naming a song for a movie and then singing the plot. And of course the original Misfits, being the horror punk template, had their share of such songs (“Return of the Fly,” “Teenagers from Mars,” “Astro Zombies,” “Night of the Living Dead,” etc).

The New Misfits, even more so. Five of the FM tracks are direct movie riffs, title included: “Them,” “Pumpkin Head,” “Crawling Eye,” “Die Monster Die” and “Lost In Space” (which is an ode to the ‘98 Matt LeBlanc remake, not the campy ‘60s TV series; I’m guessing it was written for potential soundtrack inclusion).

Indirectly, the intro and outro reference KING KONG, “Forbidden Zone” is an homage to PLANET OF THE APES, and “Helena” (“If I cut off your arms, and cut off your legs, would you still love me?”) references BOXING HELENA. “Dust to Dust” —  a fine, fine tune — tackles FRANKENSTEIN more from the self-reflective perspective of the novel’s monster than Karloff’s film monster.

Of the non-movie tunes, “Scream” is one of the Misfits’ catchiest songs — did I mention how damn catchy so many of these songs are? — and spawned a very cool George Romero-directed video. “Saturday Night” is a great chance for Michale Graves to shine on vocals, as is “Descending Angel”. “Living Hell” is just vicious. The only dud on the album is “Fiend Club,” a paean to the Misfits’ fan club, which is pretty silly (sing along: “WEEEEEE ARE THE FIEEEEEEND CLUB ... NOT YOU!!!”).

It’s frankly hard for me to believe it has been more than a decade and a half since this album lurched into my life in 1999. I’ve probably listened to it more than any other album in that time frame, and FAMOUS MONSTERS never gets old. From the Basil Gogos portrait of the band on the cover to the end of “Kong Unleashed”, this is a pretty damn perfect horror punk album.

That is, of course, depending on your Misfits school of thought. If you’re stuck on “1,” you’re missing out.

The author and ex-MISFITS guitarist, Doyle.

REID BRITT lives in Scenic Western North Carolina with his wife Alison and his daughter Lily.  He has been a Monster Kid from a young age ("There ARE Sasquatches down in the woods, Mom!") and still believes in the Power of Rock n' Roll.  When he's not watching horror movies, he likes to paint, and you can check out his paint slinging at spookywolffe.tumblr.com, Instagram as Reiddrorings,  Facebook as Spookywolffe. and Twitter as @spookywolffe.

The first full-length MISFITS album crawls into the light, 1982

By REID BRITT 

Methinks it’s appropriate — looking through 21st century eyes at what the band hath become  — that my first exposure to the Misfits in the early ‘80s was as a logo on a t-shirt.  Precisely, a t-shirt oft-worn in band photos by one Cliff Burton.

My actual exposure to the band’s music was a bit later as a friend came into possession of a stack of used records from a local college radio station.  He kept most of the stack, but I was able to grab one slab of vinyl.  Its cover — Sharpie-d up with call letters and programming notes — bore the bat-spider creature from the ‘50s sci-fi flick ANGRY RED PLANET, a fierce/goofy looking band photo, a band logo in “Famous Monsters” magazine lettering, and a title nicked from the third of Universal’s “Gillman” movies.

WALK AMONG US.

It’s a bit cliche to say that a song/album/group is “life-altering”.

But WALK AMONG US was life-altering.  I was a kid raised on ‘70s radio pop and rock and early ‘80s metal, and although I’d heard some punk, this wasn’t anti-Reagan nihilism and off-key screeching.  WALK AMONG US was a distillation of all those black-and-white horror and sci-fi flicks that had filled my Saturday afternoons into couple-minute bursts of crooning and aggression.  Twenty-five minutes, thirteen songs: thirteen horror punk classics. Songs about ‘50s horror host Vampira, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (“Ripped up like shredded wheat!”), the wacked-out ‘60s flick Astro Zombies, 20-eyed monsters, and Martians slam-dance with statements of nefarious intent like "All Hell Breaks Loose," "Violent World," and "Mommy Can I Go Out & Kill Tonight." I want your skull ... and brains for dinner.  Glenn Danzig’s “Evil Elvis” vocals (I hate that term, but it’s widely used and weirdly appropriate) and B-film-borne lyrics transform songs that are musically pedestrian into gore-soaked anthems.

While WALK AMONG US was the first full-length Misfits album to crawl into the light (in 1982; Static Age and 12 Hits from Hell were recorded before Walk, but very posthumously released), the band would only manage one more full-length — the more hardcore/thrash-influenced EARTH A.D./WOLF'S BLOOD — before Danzig dissolved the group to follow his own darker muse.  WALK AMONG US isn’t necessarily the best assembly of the band’s songs (for example, it doesn’t include my favorite Misfits songs: "Halloween," "Die Die My Darling," "London Dungeon" or "Hybrid Moments"), but it was the first and most easily accessible Misfits record until Danzig’s Plan 9 Records partnered with Caroline Records in the late ‘80s to release LEGACY OF BRUTALITY, EVILIVE (an expanded version of the earlier EP) and the Misfits Collection.

Ultimately, what Danzig, bassist Jerry Only, guitarist/Jerry’s brother Doyle and drummer Arthur Googy spawned is THE seminal horror punk album.  The subsequent decades would see legions of bands trying to recreate Misfits’ alchemy with decidedly mixed results.  But WALK AMONG US is Patient Zero, and, like the horror genre itself, is an uncompromising burst of brutality, gore, cheesiness and monsters.

REID BRITT lives in Scenic Western North Carolina with his wife Alison and his daughter Lily.  He has been a Monster Kid from a young age ("There ARE Sasquatches down in the woods, Mom!") and still believes in the Power of Rock n' Roll.  When he's not watching horror movies, he likes to paint, and you can check out his paint slinging at spookywolffe.tumblr.com, Instagram as Reiddrorings,  Facebook as Spookywolffe. and Twitter as @spookywolffe.