Boo Dudes’ Jesse Boo Goes Solo [Fresh Tracks]

Back at the beginning of October, the core duo underlying Boo Dudes — Nashville’s most grisly and gruesome spooky-kayfabe band — seemed to be under some strain. With guitarwolf Ghastly Mike Hackenslash focused on his startup businesses and conspiracy theories and bassmummy Jesse Boo busy hosting the group’s new web series The Witching Hour!, you might not expect any musical output from the Dudes this season. 

That’s where you’d be wrong! Boo has released his solo effort Candy Corn Sells… but Who’s Buying? under the appropriately modified moniker Boo Dude. The nine-track album, which you can snag via the Bandcamp embed below, features assistance from Vlad Dracula’s younger brother, Tad, and it’s a veritable buffet of stylistic approaches. (No Jimmy Buffett, though — that’d be too spooky.) Feast your ears on the industrial-rock fandom-spoofing joint “NecroComicCon,” the twisted rockabilly live cut “Hop, Vampire, Hop,” the gloomy synth-punk of “RIPped in My Crypt,” the power ballad “It’s OK to Call Me Frankenstein” and more.

Candy Corn’s diversity of sounds suggests that Boo has quite a bit of material stashed in that gauze-wrapped noggin. Is this his All Things Must Pass — his great creative outpouring that points the way toward stellar solo work to come? We’ll have to see what happens at Spookedelica, the Dudes’ Halloween night Illuminati-fied extravaganza at The East Room. The Swells, Black Moon Mother and The Broomestix will also play. The show starts at 9 p.m. and the cover is 10 bones — watch the Facebook event page for updates.