Whether it was The Nightmare Before Christmas that first fired the opening shot in the argument that goth rock can be kids' music as much as anything else, there's little question that it's now something which seems happily multi-generational, and little surprise that Voltaire, whose gleefully macabre and geekily suave way around the genre would be the gut to come up with his own spin on the "kid's rock" approach.
Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids is part compilation and part self-contained effort by Voltaire and his backing crew featuring a few re-recordings here and there to make it more kid-friendly (had he included the original version of "Cantina" on this, you'd suspect that he'd still be running from the pitchforks and torches). Just the fact that many of the songs have appeared on Cartoon Network programs and online gaming adventures indicates the perfect intersection of obsessions Voltaire indulges; but as ever, the real key here lies in two simple things: Voltaire's suave singing voice -- with humor and crooning balanced in equal measure -- and his now-trademarked fusion of klezmer strings, mariachi horns, and whatever else catches his ear. It makes songs like "Cannibal Banquet" and "To the Bottom of the Sea" kick with energy, and even the instrumental "Tempest" sounds like him, thanks to the effervescent, dark flair of the arrangement without him singing a single note. There are also a couple of updated lyrics to a new world of dark-themed art -- "Vampire Club (Twilight version)" is a tale of a certain movie/book series as observed by old-school horror icons who bemoan its existence (to quote one line, "You never fall in love with your high school lunch!") But perhaps nothing so easily sums up the album as the heartfelt lullaby for Voltaire's own son called "Goodnight Demonslayer," a song about the monsters under the bed. ~ Ned Raggett