Summer of the Occult (and Tyven) use a scale called phrygian major (or phrygian dominant). It's identical to a normal minor scale, but with a minor second and a major third. That opens up a lot of progressions that aren't usually heard in popular music, and you can always borrow chords from natural minor to make it feel more natural. I'm actually working on a track in A phrygian major right now, and I've used it a few times already.
The biggest thing that makes it stand out is that most of the chords are common to minor, but the root is major. Technically it's a major scale (because of the third), but it sounds eerie and out of place.
