Halloween Songs: “The Mummy” and “Loup Garou”

I try to profile at least a couple Halloween-related songs each October. You can find more by searching the Broken Hearted Toy archives for October in previous years.

You’d expect a band named Amazing Heeby Jeebies to throw a few chills your way, and the Chicago-based quintet comes through on its 2018 Bad Feeling album. Led by vocalist Ary Jeeby and propelled by guitarists Bob Hyatt and Tom “Boss X” Klein, Amazing Heeby Jeebies combine garage rock and rockabilly while spinning tales of werewolves, mummies, and cannibals. They don’t always aim for the dark side, but when they do, listeners are more likely to dance than cringe.

“The Mummy” is filled with quick rhymes like “King Tut’s got nothing on this guy/When he left, Cleopatra cried,” and depicts its Egyptian hero as a recording artist and television personality. Bassist Earl “Wolfdaddy” Carter and drummer Jerry King join Ary Jeebie, Hyatt, and Klein in crafting hard-edged but catchy music that evokes a 1960s discotheque. “Loup Garou” is another guitar-fueled party song, kicking off with the line, “I felt a little strange when I saw the moon.” It’s delivered from a bewildered, first person point of view of someone vaguely remembering, “I ate something or someone last night.”