It’s been a while since I’ve visited the theater to see a play and even longer since I saw a musical. The latter kind of show hasn’t had a great appeal on me in general and rare are the shows that got stuck in my memory as worth seeing. I remember visiting a staging of The Little Shop of Horrors as a tween and liking it a lot. I also remember having fun at a silly, glitzy affair of a musical at one edition of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with tickets bought on a whim.

A little bit of hysterical silliness, it appears to me, is essential for a fun musical, and Hell is for Hugo, the album at hand, by Green Claws, certainly has got that on offer. Although the word musical is not mentioned anywhere in the PR material for the album – it says punk rock opera instead – a musical is exactly what Hell is for Hugo would be if it ever were staged. In any case, imagining the story as a staged performance while listening to the album will definitely enrich your listening experience.

The story, spread over two CDs and 23 tracks, summing up to a playing time of 80 minutes, is “based on a horrifying Halloween experience” and has a tongue-in-cheek element. I’m not going to give away the plot here, because that would mean spoiling the fun. Instead, I’ll give you just a few hints. Hell is for Hugo features clueless teenagers who get themselves in trouble and demons who are up to mischief; there are confusing mix-ups and star-crossed lovers; there is the mentioning of carnal desires, the offer of a self-less sacrifice, an attempted deal with the devil, a rebellion – in short, everything you’d expect to encounter in a good play. And most of the story is taking place in hell.

Musically, Hell is for Hugo are 23 melodic, mid-tempo, fun, sing-along punk rock songs. It is punk rock of the story-telling kind, a la Blink 182, with a bit of silly horror as seen in Ghost and a tad of social commentary as done by Bad Religion. Here and there, you’ll hear a dash of metal, especially in the guitar playing, but the heavy metal guitar parts fit very well into the overall setting, because metal, naturally, is no stranger to theatrics. My favorite among the 23 tracks is Stuck in Luxury, although it really makes no sense to single out any track since they are all part of a whole.

As far as I can tell, this is a one-person effort with the person behind Green Claws being one George Purves from Bath. Coming up with the idea and the story, putting the plot and the scenes together, composing music and writing lyrics for 23 tracks all by yourself is quite a feat and deserves recognition.

If you are a punk rock fan and also like silly horror, you’ll definitely enjoy Hell is for Hugo.

(8/10 Slavica)

https://www.facebook.com/greenclawsband

https://greenclawspetrichor.bandcamp.com/album/hell-is-for-hugo