Welcome to a special Halloween edition of Drive Way To Driveway, Drunk.

Halloween is a fun holiday, but I rarely dress up. If I have some brilliant idea, then I will, but usually I end up costume-less at the party. I still want to be Daft Punk, but until I can find materials for cheap, it is just another idea in my head.

There are many go-to records for Halloween. Things like the Misfits and the “Monster Mash” always do the trick, and you can dig into that box of CDs you need out of your life and pull out the Rob Zombie disc collecting dust, but Halloween can be a time where you can play other records you might not normally play.

So I was thinking about perfect Halloween party music. I ran through my collection and have a few recommendations to create mood and ambiance, without beating the dead horse of playing “Thriller” for the umpteenth time.

The Cramps – …Off The Bone

This compilation of tracks is a great party disc. Mostly made up of covers, most of which many won’t know, it is a fusion of 60s swinging sounds, proto-punk vocals and a hint of darkness. The Cramps are a garage band that also take styles like rockabilly, and surf and make it their own.

Off The Bone is a compilation of the band’s first EP, Gravest Hits, as well as selections from their first three full lengths: Songs the Lord Taught Us, Psychedelic Jungle, and Smell of Female. Though their sound isn’t very “spooky” the Cramps are a definitive Halloween band. Their album artwork is full of skulls and zombies. Before they made Gravest Hits, the band performed in a mental institution—how awesome is that?

…Off The Bone has some of the Cramps’ best songs. Their covers of “Surfin’ Bird” and “Goo Goo Muck” are essential. Because most of the tracks the Cramps cover aren’t very popular, their originals like “Garbage Man” and “Drug Train” sounds as if they could be songs from the 60s as well. If you are throwing a party and want to create a fun atmosphere, but still retain an edgier feel, this is a great record.

Royal Trux – Twin Infinitives

Word of caution – make sure you don’t let your friends turn this one off. I am a huge Royal Trux fan, but Twin Infinitives is not listenable. Royal Trux were a band who formed out of the ashes of Pussy Galore. Their sound is skuzzy garage rock that also mines 70s hard rock. This record is nothing like their later records—it is pop music from hell.

Jennifer Herrema and Neil Hagerty split vocal duties, with Herrema mostly pulling a full-on banshee wail, while Hagerty is more soothing, but nothing about this record can be considered peaceful. Twin Infinitives was created at the height of the duo’s drug problems. The songs are full of noise, grit, and howls from below. Tracks start with noise blasts, mixing bluesy bass with the clanging of cheap instruments and whatever the band could find to make sound.

Like I said before, this record is not particularly listenable; the CD version is actually fucked, because it does not accurately split the songs into 15 separate tracks, but 4 tracks with pauses between the songs. If you are willing to endure it, Twin Infinitives is perfect theme party music.

Wolf Eyes – Burned Mind

When Wolf Eyes signed to Sub Pop it seemed like the oddest pairing of band and label. Would Wolf Eyes go tame, or would they continue to create some of the wildest noise records, only to a wider audience? Their ’04 Sub Pop debut Burned Mind proved Wolf Eyes are not a band you’d play for your parents.

Burned Mind is filled with wild noisy tracks of melted synthesizers, detuned guitars, and satanic vocals. Wolf Eyes also know how to title a song. Choice cuts “Stabbed in the Face,” “Urine Burn,” and “Black Vomit” are aptly titled. “Stabbed In the Face,” while the most conventional song the group had created, is still an intense listen.

Part of the freakiness of the record comes after “Black Vomit.” The record goes siient for about 10 minutes before returning with more creepy noise. If you forget the record is on, it can bring a violent shock.

Wolf Eyes is perfect atmosphere music if you plan to sit outside and pass out candy. Not only is it intense and strange, but it can strike fear into the minds of children.

[Personal Editor’s Note: The esteemed author has neglected to mention another fine record of Halloween sounds, Ataxia, by the Circus Devils. This Robert Pollard (a la Guided By Voices) side-project is described as “H.P. Lovecraft meets Devo,” and its combination of ambient spookiness and driving, industrial crunch will satisfy all your nightmares. Plus, since October 31 is Bob Pollard’s birthday you might as well celebrate in style. —MAC (GBV Matt)]