TRACK #313:

I Was a Teenage Zombie by The Fleshtones

Our final Title Track from Episode 19 is provided by the incredibly prolific and long-standing garage-rock outfit known as The Fleshtones.

While a bit more generically about it’s subject matter than either Phantom tracks, I Was a Teenage Zombie scoots and boots in a way those other two just don’t. It’s a perfect playlist addition.

And the movie it hails from is definitely worth a watch too. It may be a low-budget affair, but it has plenty of spirit and some some really fun gore gags. The plot’s a bit convoluted for a movie of this nature, involving chemically tainted weed which isn’t (as you might suspect) the cause of the zombifcation but does inadvertently lead to it by way of a drug deal gone bad, an old huckleberry and a contaminated river.

Though not nearly as funny or brisk as the semi-similarly themed My Boyfriends Back, I Was a Teenage Zombie is a fairly fun time for those that don’t need their horror-comedy to be real polished. And it’s got those FX, something the comedic leaning My Boyfriend’s Back doesn’t really provide. It almost feels like a Troma movie, if Troma were a bit less grimy and a little more light.

It sports a great soundtrack too, featuring some young up-and-comers of the time like Los Lobos, The Del Fuegos, The Smithereens and even the Violent Femmes.

And hey, even if the movie’s not your bag, there’s no denying this is one hell of a Title Track. One that certainly understand this game and doesn’t try to get all cute. I Was a Teenage Zombie just makes with the goods.