What is it about the marriage of horror themes and surf music that seems so damned appropriate?!?
I've recently been listening to quite a bit of horror surf rock. Of course, there's always the awesome Halloween Hootenanny. I picked this up a few years back mainly because it had a Rob Zombie song I'd never heard before... that and it said Halloween in the title (Duh!). The thing is I fell in love with the rest of the album and it's become standard listening material in my Jeep, The Nostromo II.
Then, earlier this month, I ordered a new t-shirt from my favorite artist, Eric Pigors, and he also included a compilation of some of his favorite horror surf rock. I'm not sure why surf rock seems to suit horror themes so well, but it does. I suspect that it may have something to do with The Munsters. Jack Marshall's groovy, hopping surf rock theme somehow impressed itself on mine and other horror fans' DNA. That's right, I think that the theme to The Munsters somehow changed me on a genetic level. Call it weird and peculiar, but I swear it's true!
Eric, by the way, suffered a major heart attack over the Memorial Day weekend and - although he's doing much better - he's still got an assload of medical bills. If you'd like a t-shirt or print from Unkle Creepy Pigors - you TOO could get a copy of his Fiend Injected CD mix! Please help him out if you can!
Anyway, I'd been immersing myself in horror surf rock and, in a coincidental twist of creepy fate, I received an email from a musician right here in Ohio asking me to take a listen to his own horror rock.
As my regular,
So imagine my ghoulish delight when Casey contacted me and asked me to take a listen to his October 2010 release, Strange Tales for Late at Night.
Published on Casey's own label, Count Rockula Records, Strange Tales for Late at Night is a short, but oh-so-satisfying compilation of Halloween inspired music. An amalgam of surf rock, folk music, and garage rock -- this CD is creepy, spooky perfection! I looked at some of his other available albums and, although they're mostly more normal fare, there is the occasional horror rock song. He is drawn like a zombie to brains to add songs like Bela Lugosi's Grave or The Werewolf Song to every album. This shows that Casey's got some real spook-tastic cred and is one of us, faithful readers!
Strange Tales for Late at Night itself is a quirky mix of classic horror ideas. While the themes are the standard horror movie and Halloween junkie tropes, Casey makes them new and fun. That's what I love the most about this CD; the songs are just plain fun. His sense of humor comes through and makes the lyrics as gruesomely grin inducing as the groovy, swinging music. Whether he's singing about Bowling With Godzilla, or worrying about his mom's sudden, inexplicable moonlit behavior in Mother's Acting Strange, his music is - above all - just a blast to listen to.
In our correspondence, Casey told me:
The inspiration for the album came from such artists as; Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Screaming Lord Sutch, The Ghastly Ones, Dead Elvi and a bunch of sixties surf and garage rock bands. I also was inspired by a number of the old Halloween spoken word albums like Alfred Hitchcock's "Ghost Stories For Young People", Boris Karloff's "Tales Of The Frightened", Troll Records "Scary Spooky Stories" and Vincent Price's "Magic And Witchcraft".
In fact, Casey's currently working on a new horror album that will have more spoken word compositions. Fucking awesome!
Casey himself is a native Clevelander, but he's currently living in the spooky, Bigfoot-infested, and more rural parts of southeastern Ohio. He sometimes performs live as a one-man-rock-n-roll-band, singing and accompanying himself on guitar, blues harp, bass drum and foot tambourine. As you can imagine, it is difficult to get gigs when you are a one-man-band who sings tunes about witches, monsters and aliens; but he keeps trying. I'm not sure why he'd have trouble myself, I mean who DOESN'T want to hear songs about witches, monsters, and aliens?!?
Anyway - check Casey Redmond out if you get the chance!
Click here for his website!!!
Also, if you're in southern Ohio, please take a look at his upcoming appearances and - if you're in the area - try to catch a show. Seriously. This cat is our kind of people!
Finally, if you'd like to check out or buy his stuff... go here!
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