Groovie Ghoulies

Fun in the Dark (Lookout!)
by Scott Hefflon

The beloved Groovie Ghoulies! They’re a tough band to peg, or more accurately, it’s tough to explain how they can do the exact same thing as hundreds of other bands, yet they’re one of the best. They play simple riffs like the Ramones, they have an obsession with graveyards, aliens, and all kinds of ghouls, witches, zombies, and yet, at the end of the day, theirs is the CD you wanna hear again and again. If you make someone sit in a room saying “you’re gonna love these guys,” you feel kinda foolish cuz this isn’t a band that leaps out at you, it grows on you. The production (courtesy of Mass Giorgini) is warm and rich, like healthy blood, and whether the songs “drone” or “race,” you never get bored or think it’s speed for speed’s sake. Now that’s talent. And that’s the thing about the Ghoulies, they may play simply, but they play really, really well.

Fun in the Dark contributes quite a number of great tunes to their ongoing collection of classics (it’s good to hear a punk band you know damn well represents something and is going to be remembered years from now), the most notable being “(She’s My) Vampire Girl.” There are other greats (and a few clunkers – hey, no one’s perfect), but this one has single written all over it. And, for a change, there’s plenty of other good stuff here so when you buy it, you haven’t already heard the only thing worthwhile. “I wanna rock’n’roll every night and sleep through every day.”
(PO Box 11374 Berkeley, CA 94712)