In this very, very weird pandemic year, the cool breezes whispering through the turning leaves are even more of a delight than usual as the calendar flips over to October. Even if Halloween is going to look a little different this year thanks to COVID-19, we’ve got plenty to look forward to, from the Southern Festival of Books and the Nashville Film Festival to special-edition Kit Kat bars and Boo Dudes, Music City’s spoooOOOkiest of bands.
You’ll recall that back in 2018, the kayfabe kings of Halloween had their prog opus Spookydelica 2045: Echoes of the Resistance shelved — the unfortunate result of skate-punk heels Graveyard Guys gaining control of the Dudes’ catalog. Label head “Bloody Buddy” Pearlman salted the Dudes’ wounds, enforcing his contractual right to require them to make whatever music he deemed fit; in that case, it was the fourth-wave ska album Ska Ska Skary, a blatant attempt for Bloody Buddy to win the affection of his estranged teenage son, Aiden. Last year, Boo Dudes went into recovery mode, with Jesse Boo going solo as Boo Dude and Ghastly Mike Hackenslash using the band’s BooTube series The Witching Hour! to grow his conspiracy-centric startup businesses.
However, the Dudes’ past contractual struggles continue to haunt them. This year, Bloody Buddy is back on his bullshit: In an appeal to Aiden, he’s signed self-styled “Soundclown rapper” Terry the Horror Clown. Terry’s debut mixtape The Clownward Spiral is like a piece of candy corn: The tip is Lil Pump, the middle bit is Insane Clown Posse and the fat part is Nine Inch Nails. Produced by the Dudes’ pal Tad Dracula, it’s an unnervingly catchy collection of horrorcore verses about, well, “KLOWNSH1T.” Seriously, spin the above music video for lead single “KLOWNSH1T” and try to stop yourself from singing about “painted-on frown shit” for the rest of the day.
Terry’s all well and good, but his mixtape has left the Dudes’ masterwork sidelined once again. Bloody Buddy has declared he’s committed all of Boodudes-Bloody Buddy Records’ promotional muscle to The Clownward Spiral, meaning that Spookydelica 2045 will remain in the vault indefinitely. Can a strongly worded open letter from Nashville’s Halloween-y answer to Wyld Stallyns finally convince Bloody Buddy to give the people what they want?
Keep up with the Dudes (and Bloody Buddy) via Instagram to watch the saga unfold, and check out The Clownward Spiral in full below.
