For the second time in a month, Boston, Massachusetts’ spooky-themed ska band Skaleton Crew has released a single. While the previous single, “Grounded” was less spooky and themed an a video game of the same name (where the protagonist had been shrunk and was encountering the world from at the size of an ant), this newest track “A Little Bit Dead Inside” is back to the themes of zombies, the undead, and general themes of horror.
The song begins with dirty, gritty, distorted guitars and horns. It feels almost disorienting before it begins to speed up and clean up. The rhythm takes hold, the distortion turns down, and the vocals come in. The distortion over this portion is still present but significantly lower, and the vocals are clean, clear, and crisp. The song is about being a zombie, and the description makes it sound like your mind is still functioning, but your body isn’t, from the lack of a heartbeat to a lack of full control of your body. Eventually, your speech becomes grunts and zombie sounds.
The rhythm to the first verse or two of the song is a fairly upbeat ska punk rhythm with sharp punchy horns that are toned down a little to not become the main focus. But for the next verse, the rhythm drops, replaced with a slow step melody that’s nice and clean, but the vocals devolve into wordless zombie sounds and groans. The simple melody allows the sounds to come through clearer, and draw a stark contrast to the distorted intro with clean vocals.
The chorus about being dead inside is set against a fairly punk background, and the bridge is a guitar heavy rock jam that leads back to the slower ska step melody. The transitions in this song are fun and clever, the continued contrast between vocal and instrumental themes are a lot of fun. I can’t wait for the first full album from this band, or what they might have planned for Halloween.
Stay spooky. Listen to “A Little Bit Dead Inside” below.
Written by Gimp Leg
