Thursday, August 27, 2009
Trying to explain The Spooks Lights’ sound can be difficult. It’s the kind of music that gets picked up for a roller derby workout video in Los Angeles and the live show has glimpses of a haunted house mixed with a 1960s discothèque.
‘“Sleazy soundtrack music to listen to when getting knifed by a dope-fiend on the way to a drag show’ is how I would describe it,” says front man Scary Manilow.
The Spook Lights’ music is in a league of its own in the Lawrence scene. They credit their musical influences to religious ventriloquist records, B-movie soundtracks from the 1950s and 1960s and old gimmick groups such as The Dancing Nuns.
“We find a lot of our musical influences from garbage dumpsters, records that people throw away and thrifts stores,” says guitarist Curvacia VaVoom. “It’s a really great way to find out about a lot of outsider music that we’ve never heard of.”
While their music is unique, it was meant to be seen live. With cranked-up reverb on his vocals, Scary Manilow busts out obsolete 1960s dance moves while sporting black leather gloves and a black blazer. A little skeleton attached to his microphone stand dances whenever he grabs it.
On the other side of the stage, Curvacia VaVoom plays catchy, punchy guitar riffs while wearing a go-go dress and a beehive hairdo. Guitarist Jet Boy, drummer The Meld and keyboardist and bassist Zeppelina Mystery round out the rest of the group.
The Spook Lights will be playing September 12th at The Jackpot Saloon.
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