OVERTHINK AT YOUR PERIL

I really doubt my objectivity.  Weighing all of the San Diego bands I've heard live and on record, old and new, I still really can't think of a better band than Rocket From The Crypt.  I appreciate their whole thing for a number of reasons, two of which are that they're informed music freaks, and they 're willing to stick their necks out. Here's a couple examples.  One is a nod to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound (at the bottom), and the other a recent "only reunion yet" appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba, a kids show.  The band broke up in 2005 (or thereabouts) and have not played together since, until this performance.  The song is "He's A Chef," and, given the vehicle, it's a total kids song.  I think it's hilarious; John Reis spitting out lyrics so simple that they make Jonathan Richman look like Leonard Cohen.  It really is hilarious, and musically, tight as shit.

He's A Chef, 2012

This song below, "Used," is from the 1995 LP Scream, Dracula Scream.  The album was was their major label debut, on Interscope, and the signing enabled what they rightly assumed might be their only opportunity to go big.  The snarl is still intact, despite the Spector-esque layers in the second half of the song.  It's every rock nerd's fantasy, the opportunity to make a big over-the-top record with ingredients from Spector's Wall of Sound stash, and they made the most of it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen: 
Rocket From The Crypt - Used mp3 at Ayetunes 
Visit: 
Rocket From The Crypt caters to the coveted preschool demographic with Yo Gabba Gabba! performance at A.V. Club 
Rocket From The Crypt at Wikipedia 
Rocket From The Crypt - Scream Dracula Scream entry at the RFTC Discography

Other Rocket posts