Silver State Soundtracks: Weird Nevada

1. Neon Boneyard by Black Flamingos

“Surf” on over to the Neon Museum to peruse 800+ rescued neon sign pieces from 200+ Las Vegas properties across the nearly two-acre Neon Boneyard. Las Vegas

2. Pinball Wizard by Elton John

Get your head in the game for the Pinball Hall of Fame’s 400+ tables from every era, with a cover of this song by one of the greatest performers to ever grace a Las Vegas Strip residency. Las Vegas

3. Clown Motel by Clownvis

A song that is literally about being a clown ghost and haunting Tonopah’s most infamous accommodation… performed by a clown-suited Elvis impersonator? We’ll honk our noses to that! (PG-13) Tonopah

4. Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde by Travis Tritt

This 2002 Top 10 country hit sets the mood for gazing upon the original bullet-ridden “Death Car” in which the latter-day Bonnie and Clyde met their demise, located in the lobby of Whiskey Pete’s Hotel & Casino. Primm

5. Rooster by The Rhyolite Sound

These Vegas honky-tonkers pay homage to two things: Alice In Chains’ early-90s grunge hit and the famously funky ghost town of Rhyolite, home to a surviving house made entirely of glass bottles. Beatty

6. Jackalope by the Okee Dokee Brothers

Listen to these lore-packed lyrics on your way to Jiggs Bar. Come for the cold beers, warm hospitality, and local tips; stay for the unusual taxidermy, including a jackalope, albino porcupine, and two-headed calf. Jiggs

7. Big Bovine by Jim Reader

Mooove and groove to the cow-themed chorus as you hoof it over to snap a selfie with the two-story cow that welcomes Death Valley Rally road trippers to the Longstreet Inn Casino & RV Resort. Amargosa Valley

8. Alabam by Cowboy Copas

In all honesty, the title refers to the state—not the one-of-a-kind statue of the Toilet Paper Hero of Hoover Dam—but that’s close enough for us, since that’s the origin of both the famous worker and his nickname. Boulder City

9. Pioneer Saloon by Hunter Skye

Although the lyrics place it “miles north of Reno” in the “Black Creek Desert,” we’ll forgive it in exchange for a good tune about the actual Pioneer Saloon—the oldest and most haunted Sagebrush Saloon in… southern Nevada. Goodsprings Ghost Town

10. Middlegate Station by Kalyn Fay

A beautiful ballad and true story from the artist’s spontaneous stint working and living at this real-deal roadhouse along the Loneliest Road in America—home to the (in)famous Monster Burger challenge and the nearby Shoe Tree. 40 mi east of Fallon

11. Eating Glue by Brian Tamaki and the Kool-Aid Kids

This one’ll get stuck in your head when you visit Goldfield Historic Cemetery, where many unusual epitaphs reveal the untimely demises of its permanent residents, including “UNKNOWN MAN DIED EATING LIBRARY PASTE — JULY 14, 1908.” Goldfield

12. Strutter by KISS

Strut into the Rio for a different kind of Las Vegas “club” experience: a 13,000-sq-ft KISS-themed minigolf facility and massive memorabilia collection. Las Vegas

13. Master of Puppets by Metallica

The thrash metal “master”-piece is our hard-hitting homage to Tom Devlin’s Monster Museum, which is run by the guy who created the puppets for none other than the Puppet Master horror film franchise. Boulder City

14. Immortal Portal by Zak Bagans vs Praga Khan

Another one that was simply sitting right there for us, this electro/industrial metal mashup features audio samples from actual “ghost hunts” by Zak Bagans, who operates Zak Bagans’ The Haunted Museum and has chased specters all over Nevada. (Rated PG-13) Las Vegas 

15. Coffinwood by Stars Like Dust

This dark electro tune would fit right in at Coffinwood, HQ of Coffin It Up, the mom-and-pop coffin shop that custom-makes coffin-shaped everything (including seven tables for Jeff Hanneman of Slayer), displays plenty of it in their front yard, and puts on a free “X-Mess” light-and-sound show every December. Pahrump

16. Micronation by Kate Havnevik

This dreamy Norwegian ditty may actually just be a metaphor for love, but that’s exactly what we feel for the Republic of Molossia—a sovereign micronation located entirely within Dayton, where cookie dough is currency and walruses are contraband. Dayton

17. 7 Magic Mountains by Matteo Zarcone

A midtempo house groove that would pair perfectly with sunrise yoga in front of the art installation its title references—an array of seven 11-story-tall, fluorescently painted rock towers, produced by the Nevada Museum of Art. Las Vegas

18. Cyber Jump by Nevada Test Site

A ravey electronica tune by a Greek duo who takes their name from a top-secret bombing range that would also fit right in at a Burning Man sound camp? Double boom! Learn about their namesake at the National Atomic Testing Museum. Las Vegas

19. Apple II by Anna Neo

This downtempo jam complements the track before, its title referencing the project that gave us Survival Town, where homes were built and “inhabited” by mannequins and their furniture to test the effects of a-bombs on real neighborhoods. Classified

20. Molossia by Boote

We know, we already mentioned Nevada’s own little micronation… But with a trippy song literally titled “Molossia,” we couldn’t resist the chance to also tell you the place boasts its own “space force,” “navy,” and a jail you’ll wind up in if you smuggle any catfish or lightbulbs across its borders. Dayton

21. The Last Church by Earthworm!

Rev up this wacky one as you roll into the International Car Forest of the Last Church, where about forty cars, trucks, and vans stand stacked or sticking out of the ground and serve as canvases for rotating resident artists. Goldfield

22. The Last Supper from Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice

Get into the spirit for a religious experience at Goldwell Open Air Museum, an avant-garde art haven home to wild sculptures, including an interpretation of da Vinci’s The Last Supper, featuring life-size plaster ghosts. Beatty

23. Sam Taylor, The Desert Pupfish And Me by Cortex Bomb

This track defies genres the same way the Devils Hole desert pupfish defies the odds. The rarest fish on Earth dwells in only one place, a warm spring called Devils Hole, which many believe is a portal to other worlds. Amargosa Valley

24. Fossil Water by Andrew Weathers & Heyden Pedigo

Devils Hole and the numerous other natural springs at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge bubble up “fossil water”—so-called as it is believed to have entered the groundwater system thousands of years ago, and is still flowing beneath the surface as part of a massive, potentially trans-continental underground waterway. Amargosa Valley

25. Thunder Mountain by Ry Ecko

This talented TikTok musician’s wistful, lilting melody would promise you some feels as you arrive at Thunder Mountain Monument, an unconventional sculpture garden, artistic playground, and home—all meticulously assembled from materials found along the side of the interstate or train tracks. Lovelock

26. Bonnie And Clyde by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot

We already honored these two infamous heartland rebels and their “Death Car”—parked permanently at Whiskey Pete’s Hotel & Casino—but this frequently covered, sampled, and film-featured French-language song is just too haute not to include. Primm

27. The X-Files Theme by Mark Snow

You probably heard this one coming. But come on! As a state that’s home to Area 51, the Extraterrestrial Highway, and tons of paranormal activity, how could we not include it? Statewide

28. Perks & Quirks by Daniel LeBlanc

As we like to say, here in the “Weirdest, Wildest West,” our perks are our quirks. So what better way to finish out the set than with a funky little ditty that feels like it could have been written just for us? 

Want more Weird Nevada in your life? Scope out our roundups of oddball attractions both in and around Las Vegas and also deeper into the heart of the Silver State.