Famous Monsters, besides being “Monster Island Planet’s premiere surf rock band”, was an all female surf monster group from waaaaaaay back in 1995! Unfortunately they ceased their rampage around the turn of the century. However the music lives on and it's every bit as fun and ridiculous as a Halloween beach party with plenty of booze!
Devil Doll (Sean Yseult, ex-White Zombie), Vampire Girl (Brijitte West) and She-Zilla (Carol Cutshall) make up this fearsome trio hell-bent on having a fiendishly good time. Largely instrumental surf/garage rock with lots of gags, guffaws, yuks and occasional screaming is what they specialize in. They had to change their name to Fabulous Monsters when the magazine of the same name changed ownership and claimed copyright, but they are still referred to usually as Famous Monsters.
Their first release came in 1995 with the Famous Monsters…Are Go!!! 7” on Estrus Records. This set of 4 tracks includes the rip-roaring “Monster Girls Are Go!!!” a high-energy, grooving and swinging hell-ride to party central, full of shrieks and reverb that may as well be their anthem. During a break in the song Vampire Girl asks Devil Doll if she wants to see a real vampire coffin and proceeds to cough. Nyuk, nyuk! That’s just the kind of spirit that possesses this musical creature feature. Picture your favorite monsters on rad boards riding the big waves or hitting the go-go bar! They take their fun seriously if not themselves. Note: On this release the drumming is handled by Frank E. Stein.
1998 saw In The Night!!!, their first full-length CD released on Bong Load Records. Most of their songs are fast–paced and about two and half minutes in length, keeping the music moving which is important when most of the vocals are just howling and yelling the song title. Make no mistake though, they have the style and spirit of classic surf down pat. From the furiously scorching "Murder Beach U.S.A." to the noir-ishly seductive "Oui, Monstre Oui" the album is an atomic-sized blast of bloody fun! Listen as they each call off their favorite drinks in the somewhat loungey atmosphere of “Bloody Mary” with Devil Doll crying out “Wild Turkey!” as her poison of choice! Also included are covers of Cheap Trick’s “Clocks Strikes 10” and Saturday morning cartoon monster group The Groovie Ghoulies’ “When I Grow Up”.
1999’s CD, Around The World in 80 Bikinis! collects the first 7” single and the hard to find Knock Knock, Halloween! and Straight To The Moon! 7” singles as well as some live material.Things to know about the ladies of Famous Monsters:
Devil Doll:
Favorite Cocktail: Hot Sake
Turn Ons: Fire, Conan O’Brien
She-Zilla:
Turn Offs: Ghidra, Mothra
Favorite Food: Sushi
Vampire Girl:
Birthplace: Transylvania
Hobbies: Taxidermy, Necking
“I always had loved kitschy garage and surf bands,
and thought it would be fun to do one that we described
as "Josie and the Pussycats meet the Munsters". -From a 2007 Sean Yseult interview with Tales From The Shadows of Your Soul (Check this blog out for great interviews with lots of cool horror-themed artists!)
Find out more at these pages:
Sean Yseult Unofficial Fansite
Another interview with Sean Yseult at a Rob Zombie Fanpage
The Metal Minute has a recent interview with Sean mostly about White Zombie.
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