HORROR MONTH #2: Creep On Creepin' On, by Timber Timbre (2011)

Type of Media: Music Album

We've all met one of those guys who seems to have a problem with women. The guy who talks about women like they're a completely different species, unable to relate to them as human beings but instead as things to be desired.

Take that guy, then add decades of loneliness and rage with a dash of supernatural delusion and you have the subject of Timber Timbre's 2011 album Creep On Creepin' On, which takes a slow stroll through the mind of a man whose inability to have normal interactions with women has twisted him into a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The opening song, "Bad Ritual", may lure you into a false sense of security. It's slow and syrupy, and though the man crooning sounds strange and slightly pathetic he's probably more of a threat to himself than anyone else. He's hardly someone to be scared of, right?

Any doubts you have about the horror theme of this album will be shattered at the 3-minute mark, when the instrumental track Obelisk comes on with a thumping drum, straining string instruments, and shivering synths that wouldn't be out of place in a slasher flick. The title track that comes afterwards features lyrics that tell of a man obsessing over women and, yes, creepin' on them.

As Creep On continues it's hinted that those obsessions turn into actions, which the singer blames on his prey having a bewitching power over him. On "Lonesome Hunter" the singer openly acknowledges that he's a monster, stating "You have every reason to be frightened / since you've been reading my mind", but the fact that he's cast himself as the victim in his head means he can mentally absolve himself from any depraved thing he might do.

In the final lyrical song of the album, "Do I Have Power", the singer repeatedly asks "do I have power over it?" before a screaming saxophone (mixed with actual screams) takes us into "Souveniers", the final instrumental song that brings back the strings from "Obelisk". This is accompanied by a grim, ominous piano that closes out the album, and leaves the impression that the man's cycle of harm, self-pity, and creepin' will continue.

What I love about Creep On is the threatening picture it paints of the singer. Since the album is from the "monster's" perspective but is light on concrete details, you get a really good idea of what this guy is like but only a vague clue of what he does, which leaves your imagination to go nuts coming up with all kinds of nasty deeds. It also helps that Creep On is so sonically unique and refined. The album has a dark, slow dance, doo wop sound that Timber Timbre has cultivated over years. It sounds like a 1950s high school prom where the band is lead by your friend's vaguely threatening uncle.

At just under 40 minutes, Creep On is a pretty short listen and acts as the musical equivalent of a modern Southern Gothic character study. If you want to get into the head of a thoroughly unpleasant guy, give this album a listen.