The Scarring Party has been mostly silent since its excellent 2010 album Losing Teeth, and Milwaukee has been a lot less creepy for it. The twisted “end-timey” outfit filled the early ’00s with a sinister blend of haunted dance hall music—tubas, banjos, and croaked vocals were the order of the day—and wickedly clever songwriting courtesy of singer Daniel Anthony Bullock. Morbid characters sketches like “Raymond Dogboy” and “Wing” positioned Bullock and ScarPar less as a rock band, and more as an Edward Gorey illustration come to life.
But all things must come to an end—even the macabre ones—which is why the band is turning to Kickstarter to fund what is being billed as its final album. In a statement, Bullock sums up the band’s run as one of hard work and artistic success (“We’ve been successful at achieving a unique sound and never repeating ourselves,”) and stating that he would “like to leave our incredible fans with an incredible record; a one-of-a-kind project.” Beyond an apropos title, End Times (a “concept album about one of my favorite subjects,”) little is revealed about the record, though Bullock notes the band hopes to have it pressed by the end of 2014.
Per usual, a bevy 0f goodies are being offered to potential backers, including handmade booklets of ScarPar lyrics ($50 or more), and songwriting workshops with Bullock via Skype ($250 or more). Though the Kickstarter has been active for only a few days, nearly $3,000 has already been pledged to the $6,000 goal. (The deadline is Sunday, June 22.) That vote of Internet confidence speaks well for the band’s popularity, and for fans’ collective desire to see The Scarring Party go out on top—preferably in the most entertaining and apocalyptic way possible.