Despite the near-Halloween relaese date, this isn't much of a horror-surf record, though it does have an air of mystery to it. Man... or Astro-Man? is definitely a bit of a jump-off point here with with similar dark tones, sound clips, and "extra" sounds abound (one member plays "extra guitar", percussion and keyboards). But all of those parts come together really well and with a lot of creativity. I think this is definitely worth a listen!

In time for Halloween, The Coffin Wheels have given us three dark n' dirty instrumentals. "Astroy all Destromen" is the fastest, followed by two creepier ones. Good horror surf with some punchy metal-styled drumming. You can stream it on bandcamp, but perplexingly you'll have to shell out $10 for this 3-song EP: more than their LPs! EDIT: Much more devilish price now

I should have realized that the reason I hadn't seen many surf releases recently was because they were being saved up for October 31st. Though The Baffles weren't really a horror-surf band on their last album, this release is largely comprised of covers of popular horror themes.

I can't find much on Megatronadores outside this bandcamp page - no facebook, website, twitter -  but this looks like their first release and they have my attention! The opening track "Volcanica" is a great trad surf number with a nice and wet guitar tone and a great sense of danger ramped up by a swirling organ in the background. But then on "El Cuero" they start to get a bit more brave, constantly switching the tones of their instruments: surf to fuzz, keyboard to 80's synth, churchbells all of a sudden... and it works surprisingly well!

I was just thinking about how Ghost Scorpion were falling behind their pattern of one release per year. "Boss Metal Zone" is pretty recognizably Ghost Scorpion material: lo-fi, ragged guitar at a pretty quick tempo. They do it well and they do it here as well as they ever have. "Straight to Darkness" is probably the highlight for me, but by such a narrow margin it might be overtaken with more listens.

Speaking of listens, you should listen! It's pay-what-you-want

Reading their facebook page, I'm having a hard time telling whether this is a farewell EP or if Sonic Nightmare is merely saying they're dead for the purposes of a Halloween EP. Either way, I do have things left unsaid: I never made a release notice for their split EP earlier this year. This is predictably some creepin' horror surf, but my favorite is the disjointed and surprisingly danceable "It Comes From the Grave".

Genki Genki Panic may have already released an LP this year, but managed to squeeze in another small spooky one before Halloween. Two of these are covers: White Zombie's "Soul Crusher" and a Misfits cover (always appreciate another misfits cover) in "Return of the Fly". The title track "Vaya Con Diablos" is actually a creeping vocal track.

This one's a free download. They do have CDs for sale for a cheap $5. Release date says October 31st but CDs ship Oct 23rd. Yes, that's how you do it!

This is the second LP from The Silicon, and it covers a lot of ground. There's some shredders like "Mysterious Island" and the title track "Tiki Tohoa", and some western tracks like "Road to the Ranch", and I pick up a lot of rautalanka and shadows influence on others. They bill themselves on bandcamp as post-Soviet surf-rock and I can't help but think of the Surfbeat Behind the Iron Curtain compilations. Maybe they should feature on a modern equivalent of that!

Give it a listen!

Par Avion clearly love the surf sound, but don't let it get in the way when they have other ideas. "Unchained Melody" has a great Duane Eddy meets modern-surf twang to it and sets the tone well for the rest of the album. But then the song "Par Avion" has a less motivated, more post-punk melancholy to it. Then the next song features a cello, the next one has a great orchestral spaghetti western sound to it, but then there's a pretty straightforward cover of Misirlou.

A live album from the band that I can't help but think of as "that band with the boobs on the album cover". Great trad sound, really sunny and fun and well-played, with a few sound clips thrown on in-between songs. It definitely does sound live, but that really only becomes a factor on the few vocal songs, where the vocals dwarf the instrumental mix. Otherwise, there's a great energy and bounce to it throughout.