Wednesday 13: Undead, Unplugged

Creepy, acoustic specials from the Ghoulscout 13

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Wednesday 13: love him or hate him, he won’t go away.

He’s done schlock horror with Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 and their successor Murderdolls, blues rock with Gunfire 76 and even gone country-fried with Bourbon Crow, not forgetting his own solo material. Now he’s combined all the above on a timely acoustic album that spans his back catalogue. Yes, it’s trendy to go ‘unplugged’ but it’s not the first time Wednesday’s dabbled with pared-down songs – remember his Bloodwork and Spook And Destroy EPs? – and Undead, Unplugged ties in neatly with his recent acoustic shows. Mr 13 strips each song down to its skeleton and gives it a new twist with his distinctive rasps ensuring there’s nothing twee on here. Frankenstein Drag Queens classics like Scary Song and Haunt Me are slowed down and transformed into creepy acoustics that make uneasy listening perfect for the fireside at Camp Crystal Lake. This ghoul proves there’s more to him than just comedy-horror songs.

Self-released

Natasha Scharf
Natasha Scharf
Deputy Editor, Prog

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.