About
Out of Los Angeles in the late 1970s, Wall of Voodoo carved out one of the most distinctive sounds of the post-punk era, blending synthesizers, surf guitar, and a deliberately unsettling cinematic atmosphere that made them unlike virtually anyone else on the scene. Founded by Stan Ridgway and Marc Moreland, the band drew equally from Ennio Morricone spaghetti westerns, classic American noir, and the cold electronic textures sweeping over from Europe. The result was something genuinely strange and compelling. Their 1982 album Call of the West is the crown jewel of their catalog, a record that captures a kind of paranoid, sun-bleached Americana that still sounds unlike anything before or since. The sardonic single Mexican Radio became their biggest hit and remains an iconic slice of 1980s alternative weirdness. Ridgway later departed for a solo career, and the band soldiered on with new vocalist Andy Prieboy, releasing Seven Days in Sammystown in 1985 to solid critical response. Wall of Voodoo never quite broke through to mainstream superstardom, but their influence quietly echoed through the alternative and indie underground for decades, and Call of the West in particular has only grown in stature among fans who appreciate smart, atmospheric rock with genuine personality.
