Read the name of this 7” again. Got that mental picture? Well there you go. The Munsters meets Beach Blanket Bingo. I’ve got some kooky, happy goth friends who like to throw mustache parties and tiki luau parties and pirate parties and any other themed dress-up party you can think of all year around; a unique mixture of bats and skulls and high-spirited fun, so naturally they were the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard this. It could be the perfect soundtrack for their next Halloween graveyard beach party. Kookiness aside, it could be too easy to file this under “novelty,” but unlike a novelty that grows tiresome with repeated exposure, this band actually becomes more enjoyable with subsequent listens. They kick off with the mood-setting “Escape from Castle Wolfenstein,” followed by the imagination-spinningly titled “Driving the Monkey to the Airport.” On the flip side is a cover of the Britney Spears song “Toxic” (!), which I never deigned to hear until now and when I did, I realized the brilliance of the Monsters From Mars! cover. They wrap it up with the slowed down “Telstar,” a tune that gives me nostalgic memories of ice skating hand in hand with my sweetheart at the local rink, except I’ve never actually done that before. Madcap fun!
–susan (Tic Tac Totally)