Album preview – the Spook Lights – Live From the Planet Sleazetopia

Lawrence’s reigning garage combo, the Spook Lights, recently completed recording their debut slab o’ hot wax with engineer Chubby Smith at his studio.

The recording, entitled Live From The Planet Sleazetopia, is expected out on 7″ via the band’s own Scarum Harum label sometime this October. The track listing (in no particular order) is “Night of the Queerwolf,” “Nudie Watusi,” KJHK favorite “Teenage Maniac,” and “Sinister Urge.”

“Sinister Urge” makes its official downloadable preview debut here on Rock Star Journalist. I hope you enjoy it. It’s a rocker, as are the rest of the songs on the 7″. It’s somewhat weird reviewing this as a vinyl release, being as how I don’t have the actual thing in my hands, not does one exist at all. The only way I’ve heard it is via the mp3s that arrived in my inbox courtesy Scary Manilow.

Still, even in mp3, the sound quality comes through. Chubby Smith did an amazing job of capturing the Spook Lights’ raw energy, keeping the whole affair lo-fi without sounding as if it was recorded in someone’s basement. “Teenage Maniac” is in its third form here, with there being extant versions of a basement demo, as well as the Jackpot-recrecorded version found on KJHK‘s Farm Fresh Sounds 2007 compilation. This version is slowed down a touch, and is crisper and creepier, with Jet Boy and Curvacia’s guitars actually playing off one another, rather than one burying another.

The whole appeal of Live From The Planet Sleazaetopia is that it sounds distorted and fuzzy, rather than cheap and shitty. The effects are added to enhance the songs, rather than being the result of unfortunate mixing and cheap equipment. Really, the only thing needed to make these songs sparkle is that crackle I know I’m going to hear the first time I drop the needle down.

The Spook Lights have made a lo-fi record that captures the energy inherent in their live show, and adds a touch of what the studio can add – things like the organ on “Night of the Queerwolf” make this record a so much more than the usual “we need music to sell” toss-off in which many local acts engage. This is a record that’s going to grab ears and turn heads.

the Spook Lights – “Sinister Urge” (from Live From The Planet Sleazaetopia)