A little Mysterons goes a long way. Basically shockabilly, The Mysterons are loud, surfcore, coarse, and more comic book funny than scary or shocking. To put it another way, sort of like The Cramps without vocals. Mainly instrumental, the Mysterons often use B-Movie samples to set the mood. Not being a band that advocates moderation, the musicians have placed virtually their entire output on the internet for free for better or worse.

Wiki Wiki has 20 tracks, ranging from 1998 to 2002, of their typical surf rock spiked with a little rockabilly and campy horror. It is mostly guitar based in a Link Wray tradition. In fact, you can hear the ghost of Link all over this album.

Leftovers is just that, stray demo tracks from other sessions. Actually it is one of the most interesting of their albums because the 14 songs do not always fit into the usual Mysteron formula. Try a jammin’ “Boweavel”, the racetrack ready “Frenzy” or the disco friendly “Red Menace”.

Boozin’, Fuckin’ & Fightin’ may have a title meant to raise a few hackles but the music is some of their most straight forward surf rock and boogie sound. While these tracks sometimes sounds like riffs waiting for a melody you can’t deny the party mood in cuts like “Wheels” and “Chicken Skin Gravy”. One of my favorites is “El Santos” which shows a rather pretty side to this usually raucous band.

Velvet Walls was recorded in 1994. Many of these tracks sound like they come from some sleazy exploitation film soundtrack. I think it’s intentional. Certainly much of it, like “Bone Death and “Dance of the 666 veils”, is meant to be tongue in cheek. There’s a lot of wheezy organ in these early songs. I have a fondness for wheezy organs.

Golden Showers offer the first released tracks from The Mysterons. The horror movie theme is already in place and their fondness for surf music a la Dick Dale or The Ventures is unmistakable. These 15 tracks are pretty much straight forward party fun .

There is also a live set, a “prehistory” album, and a huge collection of throwaway demos. But these five online albums are probably all you need of The Mysterons. Here’s a tip. Put on a DVD of Plan Nine From Outer Space, turn off the sound and play Golden Showers for the soundtrack. It almost works!

The albums are available in MP3 with varying bitrates.

Download
Wiki Wiki
Leftovers
Boozin’, Fuckin’ & Fightin’
Velvet Walls
Golden Showers