Keeping in step with the "rediscovery" of all my favorite high school punk rock bands, I thought I'd do a little blurb on the hardcore "horror" punk rock band, The Misfits. This only refers to the original 1977 to 1983 lineup, not the resurrected 1995 band.
Forming in 1977, the Misfits were very close to the first wave of punk rock bands that included the Ramones, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, and the Sex Pistols. The lead singer and "creative director" Glen Danzig named the band after Marilyn Monroe's last movie of the same name. Their music was originally their music was more experimental and somber, but were soon influenced by the emerging punk scene by bands such as the Ramones and the Damned.
The most notable aspects of The Misfits sound was their fusion of 50's doo-wop, experimental rock, punk rock, and the creation of a "horror punk" sound. Glen Danzig's voice was very versatile, and I think he arguably has one of the best voices in rock&roll. Their early music was very melodic despite the thrashing punk guitars, and remained so until Earth A.D., which was much more "hardcore." Their lyrics were influenced by 50's B-horror and sci-fi flicks, littered with monsters, murder, and violence. Some songs can be kind of shocking if you take it seriously, like "Last Caress" and "Bullet." It can also catch one off-guard if you're taken in by Danzig's awesome voice.
The Misfits Samples:
They also adopted their most iconic images early their active years. The first was the "devilock", in which the hair is grouped towards the front of the head, like a reverse pony tail. The other was the use of the Crimson Ghost, a villain from the 1946 Hollywood movie serial of the same name. Members of the Misfits also dressed in black and often wore ghoulish makeup inspired by 1950's horror movies. These theatrics likely inspired modern acts like Marlyn Manson.
The Misfits released three albums and never did find much success before calling it quits in 1983. However, their recordings became more and more popular in the underground scene and bands like Metallica covered their songs and brought them into the light. Since 1983 unreleased tracks and compilation albums have been released and are highly recommended to any fan of rock music.
The Misfits had much more trials and tribulations that I cared to include in this blurb, but all can be read at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Misfits.
The Misfits @ LastFM
Notable Misfits band members:
Glen Danzig (vocals)
Jerry Only (bass)
Manny Martinez (drums)
Franche Coma (guitar)
Jim Catania (drums)
ROBO (drums)
Misfits studio albums:
*Static Age (recorded 1978, released 1997)
*Walk Among Us (1982)
*Earth A.D. (1983)
Great review! For someone like me who 's not into horror punk (I wonder why it's horror still), this's a very helpful informative post. Maybe I wasn't paying attention to lyrics (lyrics...) or it sounds too melodic, either way it doesn't fit into my existing (biased) impression of horror rock. I was thinking something close to death rock, the kind of nerve grating noisiness and lack of melody.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying 'attitude'(just right for my current mood, secretly cursing jady for setting impossible lyric quiz). Strangely it reminds me of 'personality crisis' by teenage fanclub.
effin awesome!!! i like them!! and (surprisedly) was not scared by the anticipated 'horror' sound cuz there simply wasn't any to me =D...is the horror only in album cover and band image design and/or lyrics then?
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys like it :-)
ReplyDeleteTheir genre is mainly called horror punk because of the lyrical imagery, artwork, and stage presence, not really the sound of the music. Horror punk is a lot different from death metal, although both can be kind of raunchy I guess.
The wikipedia articles on it are pretty informative, although it's surprisingly a lot to go through.
I remember trying to make a devilock in high school when I had long hair, lol. I wish I had a picture of that.
A lot of people consider the Misfits to be one of the best punk rock bands ever. Too bad some of the project playlist samples are kind of crappy....
I could rip "Static Age" tomorrow. Unfortunately I can't find my copy of Walk Among Us...hopefully I'll find it before I move.
Maybe I'll do another post the mixes up a few punk rock bands so that there's different tastes flying around.
yeah - man, times have changed. When I was teenager in the late 80s and early 90s, the Misfits were THE "cult" underground band -- the pushead t shirts could get you kicked out of school. What is so amazing is Glenn Danzig's pre-eminence as a vocalist -- a crooner of the Elvis, Jim Morrison,and classic Sun records variety -- which is pleasantly disarming when you realize he's singing about rape, mass murder, etc. One of the worst things that ever happened was the reformation of "The Misfits" with only the bassist and a couple of others, tarnishing the band's legacy for years to come.
ReplyDeleteLike The Cramps, The Misfits are one of those bands that have virally infected rock 'n roll to a degree that is really hard to overestimate -- one of the most classic rock and roll acts, in a sense, but they will never, ever be inducted in the Rock n Roll of Fame. Interestingly, early on, The Misfits, with songs like "Static Age," "TV Casualty," "Who Killed Marilyn," "Hollywood Babylon," etc., were more focused on a trash media-drenched society, a sort of pop culture vomit, and not so much horror. Around 1979 or so the focus became increasingly on using horror b-movies, flying saucers, Ed Wood type stuff in their lyrics, away from their earlier socio-cultural types of lyrics about the narcotizing effects of television or popular conspiracy theories ("Bullet") and American decadence ("Holly Babylon").