To celebrate Halloween, The Horrors released “Trial By Fire”, the second track to be taken from their recently announced sixth studio album Night Life (out March 21st via Fiction Records).

It’s been nearly 20 years since the band first form (vocalist Faris Badwan, bassist Rhys Webb, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keys Amelia Kidd, and drummer Jordan Cook), and based on their upcoming sold-out tour of the UK, it looks like they’re still doing quite well.

The Horrors Live Dates:

27 Nov 2024, Bedford, Esquires
28 Nov 2024, London, The ICA
3 Dec 2024, Manchester, Yes (Pink Room)
4 Dec 2024, Leeds, Belgrave Music Hall
5 Dec 2024, Glasgow, Room 2
12 Dec 2024, Blackpool, Bootleg Social
13 Dec 2024, Bristol, Strange Brew
14 Dec 2024, Southend, Chinnerys

Ghost
ghost-official.com

Sweden’s Ghost (previously known as Ghost BC), is going to headline their biggest world tour yet … including a stop at Xcel Energy Center in St Paul on August 2, 2025.

We saw Ghost in June 2018, June 2017, and July 2016 and wrote, “After a brief set change and prolonged intro music, a gothic stained glass backdrop, stage platforms, and mysterious lighting brought on the Swedish band, Ghost, for a charging and theatrical ninety-minute set. Singer Papa Emeritus III and his Nameless Ghouls took the stage with absolution, though seemed to be missing (Water) the band’s bassist, on stage this night (though it was hard to notice sonically). “Minnesota…are you with us?!” Papa asked in a deep Scandinavian accent during the opening ‘Spirit’, dressed in papal garb, complete with mitre headdress, flowing dark robe, and black gloves. The Ghouls were all dressed alike, in dark cardinal suits adorned with symbols and each in full molded horned silver masks missing the mouths, preserving their anonymity.”

USA Tour:

Jul 09 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
Jul 11 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Jul 12 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Jul 13 – Miami, FL – Kaseya Center
Jul 15 – Raleigh, NC – PNC Arena
Jul 17 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Jul 18 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Jul 19 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
Jul 21 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Jul 22 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Jul 24 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Jul 25 – Louisville, KY – KFC Yum! Center
Jul 26 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Jul 28 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
Jul 29 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
Jul 30 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center
Aug 01 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
Aug 02 – Saint Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Aug 03 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center
Aug 05 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
Aug 07 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Aug 09 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena
Aug 10 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
Aug 11 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
Aug 14 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
Aug 15 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena
Aug 16 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Sep 24 – Mexico City, MX – Palacio de los Deportes

Josie Cotton
josiecotton.com

American singer Josie Cotton, best known for “Johnny Are You Queer?” and “He Could Be the One”, have teamed up with Kevin Preston (currently playing guitar in Green Day), for a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Trick or Treat”.

Kevin Preston is from Prima Donna, who we saw in Sep 2013 and wrote, “Opening up for Adam Ant was Prima Donna. The Los Angeles-based band was last in Minneapolis with the Dollyrots, but this time on a bigger (and nicer) stage at the Mill City Nights. They were a little on the glam rock side, but that’s good. Their set was mostly taken from their 2012 album Bless This Mess, with the exception of “Soul Stripper” from their debut After Hours, a new song called “Like Hell”, and a cover of Leon Payne’s “Psycho”.”

“Trick or Treat” is fun, and catchy, if not short, and there is a little bit of a small dialogue between the two singers. Adds Josie, “Hopefully we’ve made a perennial Halloween song you can’t get out of your head, whether you like it or not! LOL!”

You can stream “Trick or Treat” now on YouTube

Melanie’s Charming Disaster
charmingdisaster.com

Folk singer/songwriter Melanie died before she was able to record “Aloha Lucifer”… but there exists a “live in the studio” version, which Brooklyn’s “goth-folk” duo Charming Disaster (Ellia Bisker and Jeff Morris) have decided to rework and collaborate with her vocals. That’s why the credit is listed as Melanie’s Charming Disaster.

“We really thought of this as a collaboration with Melanie,” say Charming Disaster, “and we approached the song a bit the way we do when we collaborate with each other as songwriters, which is to say: what do we think this song needs, how can we best serve it and make it shine? … To give the song a new sound and make it a bit more unexpected, we found a different chord progression that still fit under Melanie’s original vocal melody — which was sort of like solving a puzzle, or turning the music 90 degrees. It was exciting to bring something new to her song in this way. Her phrasing and lyrical style are so unique and sometimes whimsical, and we really wanted to support that.”

Charming Disaster’s tour dates:

Oct 31: Belltown Yacht Club, Seattle, WA
Nov 1: Turn! Turn! Turn!, Portland, OR
Nov 2: The Hybrid, Eugene, OR
Nov 3: The Brewstation and Coast Fork Feed, Cottage Grove, OR
Nov 16: Dartkside New Jersey Art & Oddities Market, Edison, NJ

Sunshine Convention
instagram.com/thesunshinecon

Brooklyn’s Sunshine Convention just dropped a Halloween (EP) today.

The EP features a cover of Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”

Sunshine Convention’s Jake Whitener writes:

I have always loved horror and Halloween since I was very young. Some of my fondest memories were made on Halloween nights as I walked with my mom from home to home in the cul-de-sac where we lived.

I still remember my little, plastic pumpkin shaped trick-or-treat bag and how the street lights would paint the asphalt in copper circles (as well as how dark the void of night was in between each lamp post.) I remember how crisp the air felt and the light chill that would come with the breeze. I remember the giddy suspense of approaching some of the neighbor’s decorations like bloody scarecrows that would sit on the porch by their door and large spiders with bodies made out of black trash bags stuffed with leaves or the small motion activated ghosts that would suddenly shake and play a spooky 8-bit melody when you approached. It was always a mixture of fun, wonder, excitement and always a little bit of fear. It was also my favorite night of the year.

I wanted to make an EP that could have soundtracked those cold autumn nights. A collection of songs that felt like something a nerdy kid like me would have played on their town’s community radio show. A deep cut from a weirdo band in Oklahoma (Flaming Lips,) a stone cold Halloween classic (Blue Öyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper”,) and two songs from a couple of unknowns who dropped off their unmarked tape earlier that evening (us.)

So in that spirit, I hope this collection becomes a small part of your late night activities this year or brings you back to your favorite Halloween memory. It was fun making it so I hope you have fun listening to it.

All songs recorded and performed by with additional vocals from Kira Skye on tracks 1 and 2.

Halloween on the Barbary Coast
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper
Bad Moon
Witches of Salem

Freddie Gibbs
x.com/freddiegibbs

Surprise! Multi-hyphenate rapper, and actor Freddie Gibbs dropped a surprise album on Halloween. The record is called You Only Die 1nce, available now now via ESGN Records / AWAL. The amazing artwork is by Mike “Deadly Mike” Del Mundo.

Freddie Gibbs: You Only Die 1nce
Track Listing

Status
Cosmo Freestyle
Wolverine
Brick Fees
Rabbit Island
It’s Your Anniversary
Nobody (Interlude)
30 Girlfriends (Yeah Yeah)
Steel Doors
Walk It Off
Ruthless
Origami
On The Set

Adrian Haunt Park
adrianrecordings.com

Adrian Recordings have released a Halloween-themed compilation called Adrian Haunt Park – A Spo0oky Halloween Album From Adrian Recordings.

The label writes:

The spooky season is here. the gothic and wonderfully scary season of mist and full moon. Adrian Recordings is releasing a new compilation with raw and shilling music to get you through this dark times with a scare jump.

Get tracks from your favourite artists like Toi Let – Spunsugar – LOW-RES – MFMB – Bitch Hawk – Kriget – Marcus Cato – The Fine Arts Showcase – RA – ARMAN¥ – DÖDEN – Hey Elbow – PoiZon_Sw3 – Dmitry Fyodorov – The Bear Quartet

Toi Let – Toi Let – Leatherman
Spunsugar – Spunsugar – Belladonna
LOW-RES – LOW-RES – Thrillvania Haunt Park (feat. Carolyn Purnell & Diffan Norman)
MFMB – MFMB – acids (kriget remix)
Bitch Hawk – Bitch Hawk – KALL VÄRLD
Marcus Cato – Marcus Cato – Hvi sjunker denna kittel?
The Fine Arts Showcase – The Fine Arts Showcase – Brother In Black
The Fine Arts Showcase – The Fine Arts Showcase – Part II
RA – RA – Bloodline
Marcus Cato – Marcus Cato – How Goes the Night, Boy?
RA – RA – The Void
RA – RA – The Void (ARMAN¥ Remix)
RA – RA – Oceans (DÖDEN Remix)
MFMB – MFMB – the worst dreams (radio edit)
Marcus Cato – Marcus Cato – Winterkrieg in Tibet
Hey Elbow – Hey Elbow – Blanca
PoiZon_Sw3 – PoiZon_Sw3 – UNCOVER
MFMB – MFMB – passing complexion (dmitry fyodorov remix)
The Bear Quartet – The Bear Quartet – Least Loved (Of The Unloved)

Dumb Crush
dumbcrushband.com

Toronto’s Dumb Crush released their debut single “Witches In The Dark” today… on Halloween!

The trio features Owen Hooper (Mouth Breather, Super Genius), Liam Colbert (Rise Carmine) and Elliott Isaac (Cam Kahin, CJ Wiley), and they’ve played hundred of shows across North America and Europe.

The band writes:

WITCHES IN THE DARK IS OUT NOW 🚨

We started this band on a complete whim in the summer months to shake off creative cobwebs and justify drinking one million beers on random Monday nights.

The first time we ever jammed in late June we wrote Witches In The Dark in about 30 minutes flat. It was recorded live-off-the-floor in one take @dreamhouseto

We’re so proud to share it with you and to say this is just the beginning for us ❤️❤️

Insane ups to @calvinhrtwck who engineered this track, @castlefrankmusic who mixed it in the blink of an eye and @kristianmontano for the master.