It's the routine story arc you hear all the time: Classic film monsters like the Wolf Man and Dracula live in a parallel universe but need to find a portal to our world so Frankenstein can escape an arranged marriage and hopefully find his human soul-mate.

Of course, this is all more fun if the narrative is the plot behind a band's concept album.

Of course!

And no band is more suited to wonderfully pulling off these elements than New London's own Hempsteadys — a frenetic and superbly accomplished group of players whose post-reggae template is a unique distillation of all manners of dance music. After 10 years of writing, recording and reimagining the whole thing, their debut full-length album is done. The bubbling and infectious 10-track wonder-work is called "El Amor de Los Muertos," and the street date is Nov. 3.

However, in a special pre-release celebration, The Hempsteadys perform Friday at the Oasis Pub in New London. Yes, you can get early copies of "El Amor" — along with some imaginative and fun merch — and the band's set will presumably blow down all the walls along Bank Street.

The Shipwrecks open. You do NOT want to miss this.

The Hempsteadys, 9 p.m. Friday, Oasis Pub, 16 Bank St., New London; $5; (860) 447-3929.