ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
ALL SYSTEMS GO III
Vagrant Records
10/10
Rocket From The Crypt fucking rocks! Their ’95 release, Scream! Dracula, Scream!, is one of my all-time favorite albums. It’s one of those rare discs that I can put in and play from front to back, enjoying every minute of it, like the blue album by Weezer or Screeching Weasel’s Anthem for a New Tomorrow.
The material on this album is a collection of rare master tapes recorded between 1997 and 2000 on a shitty, old 8-track tape machine. How amazing that a great band like RFTC could put out an album of unfinished, unpolished songs recorded for zero dollars and have it sound better than half of the primo-produced stuff recorded for thousands and thousands of dollars being sold as rock’n’roll by major labels these days.
These offerings sound as relevant today as they did when they were recorded nearly a decade ago. The majority of today’s “rock’n’roll” has a lot of catching up to do before they reach this level of rockdom. Some of these songs don’t even have vocals, and they still shred! A good portion of the material here was never released. Some songs were put on compilations and a few more made it onto future albums. “Falling Down Stairs” is a great opener, featuring a chaotic intro that bursts into a sonic blast of fuzz. It’s followed by two more excellent numbers- “Total Bummer” and “Chariots on Fire.” “When in Rome (Do the Jerk)” is a take on dance numbers like “The Twist,” but with a wicked bent. “Dick on a Dog” and “The Whip” are gems as well. The album contains twenty songs in all, none of which disappoint, and closes with “This Way Out,” a fitting closer to one hell of an album from one hell of a band.
If you were never into RFTC I would pick up Scream! Dracula, Scream!, but if you are really interested in discovering them, this album could serve as a nice introduction since it covers several years of their existence and has the guttural feel rock’n’roll should have, and RFTC has always possessed.
Luke Toney