Kevin Bronson on June 24th, 2015

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If Isaac Rother & the Phantoms aren’t headlining a Halloween party in L.A. this October, somebody’s missing the boat. The Washington state-bred retro-rockers debuted their full-length “The Unspeakable Horror of …” last month, their collection of howling, growling throwback blues imagining the time Screamin’ Jay Hawkins got together with Sam the Sham for a collaboration and a wardrobe change. While there is no shortage of retroists populating the L.A. scene, nobody does it quite like Rother, with his cape, imposing ’fro and kitschy menace. The album sounds like it came from a bygone era too — no, don’t change the needle on your record player — and if you’re of a mind to explore what grandpa might have shocked his parents with, embrace the horror.

||| Stream: “The Phantom” and “Night of the Phantom, or the whole album here

||| Live: Isaac Rother & the Phantoms play July 2 at Los Globos and July 25 at Chinatown Summer Nights.

||| Also: Watch the video for “The Phantom”: