The newest offering from London, Ontario, Canada’s Running From Daylight, released 29 November 2019, is full of storytelling. Not skipping on the Rock N Roll and Psychobilly sound, but also bringing more to the table than just the classic song recipe. Sporting a cover featuring art by Michael Carter, who has created all of the band’s cover art, that is clearly inspired by 1920s/30s cartoons, “Horror! Horror! Scream All About It!” is a diverse and well rounded representation of the Running From Daylight sound, which is carving its own niche within the Psychobilly scene.
The title track starts things off with a straight up Rock N Roll heavy hitter. The only song here with the classic Psychobilly sound and structure; simple rhythm, vibrato heavy vocals, horror movie themed lyrics, and a sing along chorus. “Horror! Horror! Scream All About It!” is bound to be a crowd-pleaser whenever played live. “Coffin For Two” is a re-record of the song from 2017’s EP of the same name. This is a more refined sounding version of their vampire love song, including a guitar solo missing from the original that adds some grit to the song, as well as the horn arrangement provided by Devil’s Horns Saxophone. If a Spaghetti Western were ever to be filmed on a beach, “Surf Force One” would provide the perfect soundtrack. The surf guitar in a cowboy style gives the image of a gunslinger battle finding its way onto a 1960s Bikini Beach Party. “Hell Riders” maintains the soundtrack feel, and sounds like it would accompany a heroic cowboy’s tragic story of a search for justice after having left everything in his life behind, but is plagued with constant reminders. If Running From Daylight ever does an acoustic show, or full release, this song should be on the top of the list to be included. Songs with story has been a common theme, and is continued with “Witches Never Die”, which follows the story of the survivor of a witch uprising after the townsfolk attempt to destroy them. The use of organ and vocal style adds to the sorrowful tone that builds to an excellent final crescendo, that fades out ending the story. Closing out “Horror! Horror! Scream All About It!” is a cover of the Michale Graves era Misfits song “Dig Up Her Bones”. The Rockabilly lead guitar playing makes it feel like a completely different, original song. With Dark Wave/80s Goth style vocals, and a slightly slower presentation the original is seemingly lost, until the chorus which follows the original almost exactly. This is an excellent, original sounding rendition and a great way to close out this EP.
“Horror! Horror! Scream All About It!” is available now on Bandcamp, Spotify, and all other major streaming platforms. There are also plans for a vinyl release in early 2020, so keep an eye out!