Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

Not all of these are season specific. Some just allude to the creepiness that surrounds the holiday. I tried to stay away from Misfits songs and the other obvious choices, but Danzig creeps in with Samhain, and I could not resist giving credit to some of the other obvious suspects. I attempted to choose songs that were lesser known by some acts, but those like Eddie Noack's "Psycho" and Screaming Lord Sutch's "Murder in the Graveyard" are iconic. The mix is slightly schizophrenic; like the holiday it jumps in mood and sound. Old school country intermixes with rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, and pop punk. Horrific scenes intersperse with fun. It's a carnival ride with slight time for pause. 1. Screaming Lord Sutch -- "Murder in the Graveyard" -- One of my all time favorite tunes from the Lord. You really can't go wrong with any of the low budget collections that collect his "hits." A perfect basher for any and all Halloween pa...

  My friend Brent recently directed me to Oxford American's excellent profile of Dexter Romweber. The author Aaron Gilbreath writes a very effective and cogent history of Romweber's musical career, most significantly his time with the rootsy lo-fi Flat Duo Jets, who are long overdue for critical reevaluation. Gilbreath intersperses his essay with live footage from YouTube, including some crazy early footage of Dex as rockabilly wild man in the Screaming Lord Sutch mold giving a tour of the mausoleum that the band practiced in. He also includes other early footage with just Dex and Crow, as well as a fairly sedate performance from David Letterman with a full band. Yet fairly sedate for the Flat Duo Jets is an understatement -- even at their most subdued, they are a rocking machine, capturing the magic and sound of early Sun studio sides, while maintaining their own signature sound. Dex is yowling into the microphone and playing guitar like a madman. Crow is flailing on drums, ...