Here's a selection of freaky songs which all warrant an inclusion on your halloween playlist for this year.
Whether it be down to their auteurs' shady persona, dark and angular dreamscapes or just their sublime creation of a medium made to frighten, these eclecticists' songs all undeniably have the freak factor.
Mexican post-hardcore giants At the Drive-in were all the rage back in 2000, when they released their superb and exhilirating debut 'Relationship of Command'. Packed full with tunes stemming from 80s hardcore and 70s progressive rock, one of the highlights for me was 'Enfilade', an exhaustive, shouty-shouty affair which accentuated their punk nature.
It opens with an obscure, spine-tingling phone conversation between an innocent girl and a nonsensical gruff-voiced weirdo who addresses her as 'Mother leopard'. The song develops into a brilliant heavy jam of whooshy distorted guitars overlayed with a trademark call-and-response chorus between singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.
The band Scars were a brilliant but short-lived post-punk outfit from Edinburgh. In their heyday, they combined the funky riffage of Gang of Four with John Cooper Clarke's fashion sensibilities. They released 'Horrorshow', their debut single, in 1979.
With the meatiest bassline in the history of the earth, sounding like it had come directly from the devil, alongside their clattering, caterwauling guitars, this was an absolute musically evil song. That ear-splitting slap bass and the song's fittingly freaky title were enough to form the perfect Halloween party tune.
Compared to the rest of these freaks, Esben & the Witch, who posted this video online in August, are relative newbies. Nevertheless, this video is very disturbing, in fact, it's the scariest music video of the year. It depicts the trio face on, mysteriously obtaining more and more wounds on their faces as the song develops.
The music is wicked too. Rachael Davies' Twitchy, anthemic, Florence Welch-esque vocals emanate throughout and echoing guitars dominate. The spooky opening's crescendo of thumping percussion and wailing is fantastic.
New, but just as spooky, Esben & the Witch are a group to watch out for next year.
The Specials, the Godfathers of UK ska, released 'Ghost Town', their second single to reach no. 1, in 1981. Despite originally being written about the streets of Coventry, their hometown, their tune has over many years been used at comically 'scary' points during films and the like.
With its defining organs, its flute 'riff', and its eerie chord sequences, it is now the ultimate spooky tune.
