Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Night Parade

Review by 1-5 Type: Single Release Date: 2004/03/21 Price: 1050 yen Track Listing: 1. Parade 2. Devilish Kidnapper 3. Strip Sound Quality - 7/10 Length - 8/10 Songs - 9/10 Overall Score - 9/10!

Review

Distributed independently under a label they named "Candy Makers", "Pumpkins Scream in the Dead of Night Parade" was the first single released by The Candy Spooky Theater.

When first seeing the CD it’s quite evident they didn’t have help from a record company as there’s no back cover, the lyrics booklet is a black and white computer print out and the CD itself is a CD-R. This, of course, doesn’t matter really and if anything, the low-budget feel of it adds a little home-made charm. It’s obvious that they’ve tried to do the best they could with what was available to them.

However, the sound quality does suffer a little because of the limited resources. The music on the two tracks with vocals, "Devilish Kidnapper" and "Strip", is a little quiet and the drum machine sounds slightly tinny, but it’s not so bad that it distracts you from the music.

The first track, "Parade (Opening)" is an instrumental of strange organ music that you might except to hear playing in the background of a fairground horror movie. There are a few odd sound effects and random noises sampled on it and they add to the eerie feel of the track as well. It’s a fitting introduction to the single and sets the mood of mischievous fun nicely.

With its catchy tune, very strange lyrics and bouncy, chant-like chorus, track 2, "Devilish Kidnapper", is a great song and probably the best track on this single. The crazy-clown-sounding "comical horror voice" of Jack Spooky is a contrast to the backing vocals, which consist of quiet, high-pitched voices that sound half like demented little children and half like Mickey Mouse. Considering the lyrics speak about a child (and the fact that Jack, used to wear Mickey Mouse gloves and Peggy, sometimes wears mouse ears), that was probably the desired effect, but even if it wasn’t, it goes well with the song.

Next is "Strip", which, although it is the track that has the lowest sound quality and on which the programmed drums sound the worst, is actually really good. The song has an interesting jazzy/swingy feel to it and the music is fitting to the lyrics, which are about a sort of bizarre horror strip/trip show. The vocals are different from those on "Devilish Kidnapper" as there’s less "comical horror" vocals and more straightforward singing, which is more suited to this song.

The single ends as it began with the second version of "Parade (Opening)", "Parade (Ending). This is essentially the same track with a different beginning and ending (there are no screams at the beginning and instead of fading out, it ends with a long beeping sound), but closes the single nicely.

Despite some sound quality issues, the strange lyrics and unusual vocals more than make up for it and overall this single is well worth listening to.

Back