Although White Zombie received most of the credit for mixing tales of sex, Satan, and gore with a ock/dance beat (although admittedly with more of a heavy metal edge), Chicago's My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult specialized in similar territory for just as long. Originally formed in 1987 by Buzz McCoy (who had recently relocated from Boston) and Groovie Mann, the duo sought to create a worthy musical accompaniment that could be used as a soundtrack to trashy B-movies. The duo's initial project was to make a movie (in the style of Russ Meyer and John Waters) to be named "My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult." The movie never got off the ground, but McCoy and Mann used the aborted movie's title for the name of their just-formed group, as their over-the-top stage show was best described as "sensory overload" (featuring a revolving door of weird characters, props, and intense visuals). Signing on with Chicago's renowned industrial dance label Wax Trax!, the Thrill Kill Kult issued several releases between 1989 and 1991: a self-titled EP, plus the full-lengths I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits, Kooler Than Jesus, Confessions of a Knife, and Sexplosion!

By this time, the group had attracted the attention of Interscope Records, which signed up the Thrill Kill Kult and reissued Sexplosion!, which had spawned perhaps the group's best-known song, "Sex on Wheelz" (the track would also be featured in director Ralph Bakshi's animated movie Cool World). The group only issued one more release for Interscope, 1994's 13 Above the Night, before switching to the Rykodisc label and issuing such further releases as 1995's Hit & Run Holiday (a concept album of sorts, which told the tale of a "rebellious vixen," Krystal Starlust, and her "fatal attraction" to a drifter named Apollo) and 1997's Crime for All Seasons.