Zombina and the Skeletones are an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, formed in 1998 around the nucleus of vocalist Zombina and songwriter Doc Horror. , their last recording was a self-released EP in 2017, and their official website is dismantled. Their musical style is pop-oriented, with elements of

garage punk A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

. Due to their apparent obsession with

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

s and

black humour Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

, their fanbase extends to the

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

deathrock Death rock (or deathrock) is a rock music subgenre incorporating horror elements and gothic theatrics. It emerged from punk rock on the West Coast of the United States in the early 1980s and overlaps with the gothic rock and horror punk gen ...

and

psychobilly Psychobilly is a rock music fusion genre that fuses elements of rockabilly and punk rock. It's been defined as "loud frantic rockabilly music", it has also been said that it "takes the traditional countrified rock style known as rockabilly, ram ...

scenes. The majority of their lyrical content deals with themes of horror and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

History

Formation

Zombina met Doc Horror at

Calderstones School Calderstones School is an English comprehensive school located opposite Calderstones Park on Harthill Road in the Liverpool suburb of Allerton. The school was founded in 1921 as Quarry Bank High School for Boys and its first intake of 225 pupi ...

in 1998. They started a band called The Deformed, producing a demo tape "No Sleep 'Til Transylvania", in early 1999. This tape featured songs that would later be featured on Zombina and the Skeletones albums: "The Grave... And Beyond!", "Braindead" and "Leave My Brain Alone". Since the early years of their formation, the band established a strong B-Movie informed horror theme recalling the early efforts of

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

and

The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2006. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...

Career

In 2005, Zombina and the Skeletones were a featured unsigned band on Mark Radcliffe's show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

. They have also toured the UK with bands such as The Damned,

and

The Meteors The Meteors are an English psychobilly band formed in 1980. Originally from London, England, they are often credited with giving the psychobilly subgenre — which fuses punk rock with rockabilly — its distinctive sound and style. About.co ...

. 2006 saw the band headlining Lumous Gothic Festival,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. Then in 2007, they played at the

Wave-Gotik-Treffen The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds (gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, neo-cl ...

, the very large goth/alternative festival in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. They have also played the British

Whitby Gothic Weekend Whitby Goth Weekend, abbreviated to WGW or nicknamed Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for the gothic subculture, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire. Summary Whitby Goth Weekend is an alternative music fest ...

four times, first in 2004 and most recently in 2013. Zombina and the Skeletones have been featured in the UK magazine, '' Bizarre'', and played live at the 2008 "Bizarre Ball" in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. They were scheduled to appear at "Abertoir, the Welsh Horror Festival", and performed as part of the festival. The band was largely in hiatus during 2012, performing only one show (supporting the Primitives). A new EP, ''That Doll Just Tried to Kill Me'', was released at Halloween 2012, with a Halloween show on 3 November 2012 in Liverpool, anticipating an album release in early 2013. The whole line-up of Zombina and the Skeletones guest-starred in

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or t ...

singer

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

's 2014 album ''

Raised by Bats ''Raised by Bats'' is the tenth studio album by Cuban American dark cabaret singer Voltaire, released in 2014. The album's production was crowdfunded by Voltaire's fans all over the world via a successful Indiegogo campaign; it would reach US$53 ...

'', providing additional vocals for the track "Oh, My Goth!".

Reviews

The band has received positive reviews from the UK music scene website

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

.Drowned in Sound - Listings - Artists - Zombina and the Skeletones
Their 2005 "Counting on your Suicide" was selected by goth/punk journalist

Mick Mercer Mick Mercer (born Bichael Bercer, 2 June 1957) is a journalist and author best known for his books, photos and reviews of the goth, punk and indie music scenes. Life and work Mercer is primarily a writer focused on the gothic scene and its mus ...

as one of his "Thirty best goth records of all time".

Members

* Zombina Venus Hatchett -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

Theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

(1999–2017) * Doc Horror -

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

/Bass/Vocals (1999–2017) * Ben Digo -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2006–2017) (ex-

The Dangerfields The Dangerfields are a punk rock/ heavy metal band based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, formed in 2000. Fronted by drummer and lead vocalist Andrew Griswold, the band has gone through many line-up changes. They have released one album and four ...

and

Bus Station Loonies The Bus Station Loonies are a British cabaret punk band from Plymouth, England. They have been described as a cross between Splodgenessabounds and Crass. Original Loonies Tony Popkids (drums) and Chris "Felcher" Wheelchair (real name Chris W ...

) * Kal K'Thulu - Bass (2008–2017) * X-Ray Speck -

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

(2008–2017) * Velma aka Die Booth - backing vocals * Tiddles - backing vocals/

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

(1999–2002) * Grim Outlook - guitar (1999–2004) * Taylor Woah - guitar (2004) * Ratt-Lynn Bones aka Kit Shivers - drums/guitar (1999–2005) * Louie Diablo - guitar/vocals/handclaps (2004–2006) * Pete Martin - drums (2006) * Jonny Tokyo -

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

/bass/vocals (1999–2008) * Jettison Dervish - bass (2005 – 17 May 2008)

Discography

Albums

* ''Taste the Blood of Zombina and the Skeletones'' (2002) * ''Death Valley High'' (2006) * ''Monsters On 45'' (2006) reissued 2009 with extra track * ''Out of the Crypt and Into Your Heart'' (2008) * ''Charnel House Rock'' (2014)

Compilations

* ''The Eerie Years'' (comprises the Love Bites and Silver Bullet EPs) * ''Get Thee Behind Me Santa'' (Puppy Dog Records 2002) - includes 'Transylvanian Xmas' * ''Too Much Horror Business A Tribute to The Misfits'' - includes 'Misfits Medley'

EPs

* ''Loves Bites'' (2000) * ''Halloween Hollerin'!'' (2003) (now available as a download EP with an extra track) * ''7 Song Promo EP'' (2004) * ''3 Songs vs. Your Brain'' (2006) * ''A Chainsaw For Christmas'' (download EP) (2006) * ''Halloween Party Classics'' (download EP) (2007) * ''That Doll Just Tried To Kill Me'' (2012) * ''In Sinistereo'' (Part One) (2015) * ''In Sinistereo'' (Part Two) (2015) * ''In Sinistereo'' (Part Three) (2016) * ''In Sinistereo'' (Part Four) (2017)

7" EP Trilogy

* ''I Was A Human Bomb For The F.B.I.'' (2004) * ''Mondo Zombina!'' (2005) * ''Staci Stasis'' (2005)

Singles

* "Silver Bullet" (2001) * "Frankenlady" (2002) * "Nobody Likes You When You're Dead" b/w "Deflesh Mode" (remix) (2002) * "Dracula Blood" b/w "Deep Vein Thrombosis" (remix) download single (2007) * "Teenage Caveman Beat Gargantua" / "Futurelife" (2011)

Bootlegs

* ''Dial Z for Zombina'' (recorded live at Club Useless 14 September 2004)

References

External links

Official Zombina and the Skeletones site

Previous official site

Zombina and the Skeletones Vampirefreaks page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zombina And The Skeletones Musical groups from Liverpool English punk rock groups English gothic rock groups Horror punk groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom Death rock groups Musical groups established in 1998 1998 establishments in England