Purveyors of: Jangly lo-fi space pop
File next to: Zombie Pavement, Bedhead-acula, Spoooooky Social Scene
Playing: WL 579 a.k.a. “Halloween You! Sexy Monster: A Slow Scary Riot for New Zombie Kanada,” Thursday Oct. 31 at the Monarch Tavern.

Halloween is traditionally a night when spirits walk the earth, the laws of nature are turned upside-down — and mild-mannered Toronto rock bands turn bad. That is the case with Tails (From the Crypt), the haunted cover band that first resulted from a chemical reaction when noise-pop group Tails collided with local keytar hero Dean Williams of Original Recipe at a “Halloween in July” theme party this summer. The Frankenband will be closing out Wavelength’s Oct. 31 show at the Monarch Tavern (along with Light Fires, Himalayan Bear and Adverteyes). See them play their historic one and only Halloween show (barring sequels, of course…) and you’ll be treated to a loud, vigorously played mix of Halloween staples like “Monster Mash," alongside some spooky original songs written by Tails (the real band, that is).

This could all get very confusing, so Wavelength’s Sarah Barmak helpfully grilled the band about sticky questions of identity, as well as sticky Halloween candy.

Being a cover band when you're also basically a real band sounds kind of like you’re getting to dress up in costume. What made you want to do this for one night?

Michael Ball (guitar): I missed a band meeting and I actually thought we had written these songs when we were learning them at band practice. I was wondering why our stuff had taken such a turn to the macabre.

Christina Ingraldi (bass): It's sort of our chance to be ridiculous — we'll be doing a combination of original Halloween songs, scary-ass covers and some classic Halloween crowd-pleasers. We'll also be murdering one person in the audience but keep that under your hat ‘cuz we want them to be surprised.

Cover versions are THE BEST. How do you approach covering well-loved songs? Do you just give the people what they want — beloved songs executed faithfully, with maybe a bit of extra reverb? Or do you just take "Monster Mash" as a jump-off inspiration for a 12-minute instrumental jazz-funk performance? Or is the truth somewhere in between?

Kurtis Marcoux (drums/vocals): We do our best to try and stick to the originals, but of course, we don't have a theremin or a harpsichord. These renditions are performed by a rough-around-the-edges rock quartet, WITH KEYTAR!

Christina: Obviously you can't mess with The Mash, or for that matter play 12 minutes of instrumental jazz-funk without ruining everybody's day, especially mine. I would say we stay pretty faithful structurally, but that doesn't mean there won't be any lurking horrors in store.

Dean Williams (keytar/vocals): Personally, I think the key to covering a song is to pick material that people don't have a huuuge sentimental attachment to. If it's recognizable, and sorta liked, odds are you're not going to ruin anyone's day. I guess what I'm saying is the recipe to successfully covering songs is perhaps to pick shitty songs that nobody will cry if you butcher.

What do you think makes certain songs Halloween songs, exactly? Monster-based lyrical content? Use of the minor key? Total coincidence — people just started playing them on Oct. 31 and it stuck?

Matt Longo (guitar/vocals): It takes more than just dropping names of monsters to be a classic Halloween song. I think the two key elements are that it be spooky, and that it capture some of the fun and wonder of Hallowe’en. For instance, “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon is (at least on its surface) about a werewolf — complete with howls — but it plonks along in a major key without much merriment or indulgence of its absurdity.

Christina: A Halloween song really just has to give you that spooky feeling, like when you come home to an empty house and it's dark and you hear a creaking sound that's slightly different from the usual creaking sounds in your house, and in your head it's definitely because there's a man crouched in your closet with a knife waiting to eat your face, so then you look for the closest weapon so you can sneak up on him first, but all you have is your keys so you put one between your fingers so you'll be prepared to stab him in the throat when he jumps out to get you. Who are you kidding?

Keytars are powerful instruments, capable of inspiring adoration. Is there a danger the audience could love the addition of a keytar so much that they'll demand you keep it permanently?

Michael: I won't even attempt to articulate the divine mysteries of the Keytar.

Dean: No. You'll understand why when you see me play, but let's just say - it's hard to clap when you're covering your ears.

Christina: Dean is so amazing that most people don't even notice he's holding a keytar. We're trying to acquire the rights to his face and then Tails are set for life.

Matt: Dean is most definitely in the Rolodex (under "Keytar Players - Hunky").

Should everyone come to the show in costume??

Dean: We all wear masks, Sarah.

Kurtis: HELL YES! We're playing Halloween songs. It's pretty ridiculous. This is no time to be serious. Fuck it. Dress up.

If you guys could pick a favourite childhood Halloween candy, what would it be?

Christina: I'm a big candy eater, but it's the terrible Halloween candies from my childhood that I associate with Halloween for some reason. Goodies, those indestructible caramels in the orange and yellow wrappers, generic lollipops with those cardboard sticks and they get all soggy in your mouth. And I don't care how much everybody loves Rockets, they're chalky and unpleasant! Also raisins aren't candy! I'm so angry just typing this out.

Matt: Then: anything but those gross brown molasses candies. Now: those gross brown molasses candies.

Dean: Unequivocally, I would have to say the best Halloween candy would be that which I stole from my unsuspecting sister. Either that or Rockets… From The Crypt.

When all this Halloween partying is over, what's next for Tails (the real band)?

Matt: We're currently working on mixing and mastering what will eventually be shaped into an EP. Hopefully we'll be back at Wavelength to officially introduce it to the world before heading out to play some other Canadian dates.