If you ever wished Ronnie Spector had gone through a goth phase, then you might like the Casket Girls. The Savannah, GA, trio—made up of Black Moth Super Rainbow singer Ryan Graveface and sisters Elsa and Phaedra Greene— combines the familiar harmonies of ’60s girl groups with synths to make their own very distinct style of pop. Staying in a minor key throughout Sleepwalking, their debut album, the Casket Girls are pleasantly morose. With its haunted house organ, “I’ve Got a Secret” acts as a theme song for the band, while the title track questions whether or not dy- ing would finally allow them to get some rest. On “Whistle and I Will Come,” the women sweetly ask their loves to follow them to the other side, making it a love song worthy of a Tim Burton film. The Casket Girls’ brand of goth pop is definitely dark, but it’s a perfect mixture of doom and optimism that keeps you hanging on every word.
“Sleepwalking”, $11.99, amazon.com
By Shannon Carlin
This review appears in the Dec/Jan 2013 issue of BUST Magazine with cover girl Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Subscribe now.
