Most people think the “Halloween” music genre began and died in the 1950s. And they’re… mostly correct. But every now and then, through the decades, a slew of delicious treats come our way. Such is the case with The Kaiser Chiefs (or the “Kaiser Freaks” as they’ve dubbed themselves in this video) with 2020’s “Zombie Prom”
During the pandemic of 2020, concerts were cancelled left and right, and Halloween was pretty much cancelled. But there were plenty of ghouls keeping Halloween alive (3-6-5). The week before Halloween, the Kaiser Chiefs invited all of us to their Zombie Prom.
“It’s been a Halloween of a year. We haven’t been allowed out to play and now we can’t Trick or Treat either. So Kaiser Freaks are inviting you to dance and sing along at our Zombie Prom.”
– Ricky Wilson, lead singer
Many people didn’t know what a Zombie Prom was… was it a concert? A dance? Was it taking place at the Zombie Zoo? Who cares, we were ready. Then the song came out, and it’s glorious. It has the surf-vibe of so many classic 60s spookysongs, lots of scary background vocals, and a great story about teenager zombies headed to their prom, with body parts all around and plenty of brains to be eaten.
A perfect addition to any Halloween playlist, it hits the sweet spot of just cringey enough to be Halloween appropriate. The Kaiser Chiefs don’t try to be “cool” or “edgy”. Nope, just straight up zombies The video has them all dressed up and performing the song with vigor, until rigor mortis sets in. It’ll scare your dad!
The song didn’t light the charts on fire, but that’s ok. It was the best zombie dance festival since Thriller. The Kaiser Chiefs’s’s’s’s heyday was in the 2000s, with big hits like “I Predict a Riot”, “Oh My God”, “Never Miss a Beat”, and “Ruby” all hitting in the later part of the 00’s, I hope they continue to pump out more spookysongs for the future.
