Indie rock lifers Cloud Nothings signed to the big independent label Pure Noise last year, and they released Final Summer, their first Pure Noise LP, earlier this year. Now, Cloud Nothings are taking part in Dead Formats Vol. 3, the third installment of Pure Noise’s Pabst Blue Ribbon-sponsored covers compilations. To mark the occasion, Cloud Nothings have dug deep into their punk bag, taking on a spooky-season Misfits classic.

The Misfits released their gorgeously savage rager “Halloween” as a single in 1981, and I still put it on pumpkin-carving playlists, thus forcing my children to contend with that lyric about dead cats hanging from poles. For their contribution to the new Dead Formats, Cloud Nothings have taken on both “Halloween” and the evil-sounding half-Latin B-side “Halloween II,” and they haven’t held anything back. In a press release, Cloud Nothings leader Dylan Baldi says it’s only the second cover that Cloud Nothings have ever recorded, which is only half-true. Here’s what he says:

The only other cover song we’ve ever released is a version of “The Boys Are Back In Town” by Thin Lizzy, back in 2013. I don’t know anything about what Thin Lizzy singer Phil Lynott was like as a person, and I wish I knew less about what Glenn Danzig was like a person, but I think having our only cover songs be “The Boys Are Back in Town” and “Halloween 1 & II” genuinely speaks to the type of people we are. In the immortal words of Danzig: Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.

Below, listen to the Cloud Nothings’ take on “Halloween,” as well as the Misfits’ original “Halloween” and “Halloween II.” While you’re at it, check out the Dead Formats Vol. 3 tracklist and the other two advance singles, ’68’s take on the Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic” and Same Side’s version of Led Zeppelin’s “That’s The Way.”

TRACKLIST:
01 Four Year Strong – “Vasoline” (Stone Temple Pilots cover)
02 Bloom – “Ceilings” (Lizzy McAlpine cover)
03 Knuckle Puck – “Stick Season” (Noah Kahn cover)
04 Spanish Love Songs – “Don’t Change” (INXS cover)
05 Hawthorne Heights – “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” (Death Cab For Cutie cover)
06 Saves The Day – “Lady In A Blue Dress” (Senses Fail cover)
07 Senses Fail – “Shoulder To The Wheel” (Saves The Day cover)
08 Ben Quad – “Cinco De Mayo Shit Show” (Feat. Hot Mulligan) (Marietta cover)
09 Lavalove – “Harness Your Hopes” (Pavement cover)
10 ’68 – “Intergalactic” (Beastie Boys cover)
11 Grumpster – “My Own Worst Enemy” (Lit cover)
12 Same Side – “That’s The Way” (Led Zeppelin cover)
13 Carpool Tunnel – “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” (The Smiths cover)
14 Cold Moon – “Golden Hour” (Kacey Musgraves cover)
15 Bearings – “Motivation” (Sum 41 cover)
16 Cloud Nothings – “Halloween I & II” (Misfits cover)

The Dead Formats Vol. 3 compilation is out 10/17 on Pure Noise.