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THE CRIMSON GHOSTS :
SOME KINDA HITS

Ok, first of all, this is not the German based Horror-Punk band of the same name, these guys are outta the good ol' US of A, and are not your average Misfits themed band. You see, this group of ghouls actually does nothin' but instrumental Misfits covers, with the twist being that they're all done up surf-style! Sound like a weird idea? Well yes, maybe on paper, but it reality this works surprisingly well. The band is made up of; John Kozik & Rev. Travis - guitar, Owen Rehrauer - bass, and Gein - drums. You might remember Gein from such other evil surf bands as; Gein And The Graverobbers and The Phantom Creeps. This is the band's first full-length (featuring 17 tracks), but there is also an out of print 7-track EP floating around out there entitled "3 Misfits From Hell". However, whether or not the tracks from the 7" reappear here is not known. Now, there are lots of horror themed surf bands out there, but these guys are the only ones I know of who exclusively do Misfits covers, which leads me to compare it not to those other surf bands, but rather to the recently released "Misfits Meet The Nutley Brass" CD from Misfits Records. The Nutley Brass disc is also nothin' but Misfits instrumentals, but instead of surf, it's done up lounge style. Sure, lounge is a far cry from surf, but I think we can all see the obvious comparisons. In a nutshell, this offering from the Crimson Ghosts beets the overly-hyped Nutley Brass disc hands down! It's that simple... Now, I dig both styles of music, so that's not the issue. I think it's just that the Misfits back catalogue lends itself better to surf arrangements than it does to lounge. For instance, with the Nutley Brass disc, it often took me thirty seconds or more before I realized which Misfits track they were covering, with the Crimson Ghosts, it takes about two seconds! I also think that the twang of the surf guitar is better suited to making up for the lack of Danzig's vocals than anything in the lounge repertoire. Some Kinda Hits is a blast, and a disc that will surpass its inherent novelty factor, and become a treasured addition to your collection. The Nutley Brass disc on the other hand was shelved after me giving it a couple spins and issuing an understated chuckle. Finally, on a simple "bang for your buck" sort of comparison, Some Kinda Hits gives you an extra ten minutes over its lounge cousin, so as they say, "you do the math". Now, if ya wanna indulge in this little musical oddity, act fast, as with all the discs so far from Necro-Tone Records, there are only 1000 of these puppies to be had! For More info, you can find the band here. Oh, and one last thing, the cover art is by none other than Eerie Von! How cool is that?
RATING = 8.5 Horror-Surf (Released 2005)

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