“We’re fascinated with the idea of the world of supernatural. There’s as much dark and twisted out in the world as happy things. We want to encapsulate the whole thing,” said singer Fuzz Sangiovanni. “There’s some gore and ghosts in our songs. There’s some humor, though, and the songs kind of play out like a Stephen King book.”

The Connecticut act formed in 2008 upon the demise of jazz-funk band Deep Banana Blackout, originally with Sangiovanni and his wife, Carrie. They added violinist Ben Dean and double bass player Brian Anderson before releasing their well-received debut, Bouquet, in 2009. Their high-intensity, interactive live shows garnered the Caravan spots opening for the likes of Glen Campbell, Iron & Wine, The Decemberists and Emmylou Harris.

“That’s one of the big variables from night to night: how the room reacts to what we do,” Fuzz Sangiovanni said. “We’ll take anything that comes our way and turn it around to make it a part of the show. If the ball gets tossed in our direction, we’re going to find a way to toss it back and make each night unique.”

“It’s about life being like a carnival, especially here in the modern age,” Fuzz Sangiovanni said.

Added Carrie Sangiovanni, “There’s a lot of bells, whistles and distractions to keep you entertained while other things are going on. You may miss those because you are wrapped up into the day-to-day.”

The married couple is proud of the progress they made in The Funhouse, both lyrically and musically.

“When we first started out, we had a really clear influence with the gypsy jazz. We expanded a bit here. We didn’t want to get pigeonholed,” she said. “We wanted to come out with a clear vision, but we wanted a fuller range.”

Added Fuzz Sangiovanni, “We took a step up from the first album. We’re still painting pictures, and now we are doing it in a more vivid way.”

Caravan of Thieves currently is prepping a series of holiday singles to lead into 2013, with the spooky Halloween track “Ms. Priscilla Pumpkin” now available for download.

“We’re not as introspective as we are interested in creating peculiar images in our heads,” Fuzz Sangiovanni said. “I’m not really sure why. A lot of times when we are writing music, those are the things that come to mind.”