Spooky Pie

Trying to explain what Spooky Pie sounds like is like analyzing a psych patient by the name of Sybil, they have so many different personalities you never know which one is going to show up for dinner. (Muzikman) One of the finer bands on the L.A. circuit, and like a feast of 40 years of California rock, Spooky Pie serves up distinctively flavored slices of Golden State genres, heavily spiced with an eerie gothic sensibility.

One of the finer bands on the L.A. circuit, and like a feast of 40 years of California rock, Spooky Pie serves up distinctively flavored slices of Golden State genres, heavily spiced with an eerie gothic sensibility. There's early-'60 surf ("Phantom Surfer"), late-'60s melodic folk-rock with harmonious male/female vocals ("Thunder" and Octavia"), '70s - '90s punk (Poisonberry") and '80s new wave ("Pretty Weird Thing"). They also perform three covers that actually alter the originals rather than just restate them: a metallic, psychedelic version of the Beatles' "Hey Bulldog," a thrashy rendition of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" and a Shindig teenbeat frugfest of the T-Bones' "No Matter What Shape," which you oldsters may remember as the catchy Alka-Seltzer theme song from the mid-'60s.

Most of the tunes are the creation of lead guitarist Willy Banta, whose fretwork has a Dick-Dale-snarl-meets-Lou-Reed-loose feel. He shares vocals with the sensuous keyboardist Phyllis Teen. While the influences are varied, the platter has the creepy feel of trashy, moonlit red-velvet Hollywood nightlife. Memorable stuff - this Pie is in our face. (Michael Simmons)