Rocket from Crypt blasts off
By Jeff Vice
Deseret News movie critic

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT; "Group Sounds" (Vagrant Records).***

Possibly San Diego's finest musical act working today, Rocket from the Crypt has spent a decade trying to put the "rockin' " back in rock 'n' roll.

Unfortunately, for the most part, those efforts have fallen on deaf ears (witness the somewhat indifferent or downright hostile reactions to their Utah sets when they opened for Soundgarden in 1996 and closed out the Vans Warped Tour that same year).

The good news is that the band has finally gotten out of its major-label deal (with the seemingly clueless Interscope Records) and is now free to make the album it has been trying to make, "Group Sounds."

And even though the CD title appears to be a bit of a play on the Beach Boys' classic "Pet Sounds," the music couldn't be further from that band's harmony-laden pop. Instead, the six-piece group favors a rather menacing but tightly wound blend of rock, Memphis soul and grimy punk.

Even more intriguing is that — if the horn breakdown halfway through "Venom, Venom" and the skronk of "Savoir Faire" can be taken as an indication of where things are going — the band is beginning some experimentations with progressive jazz.

You'd hate to say Rocket from the Crypt is mellowing out at this point in its career, but lead man John "Speedo" Reis' vocals have definitely lost a little of their Drano-gargling harshness, and "S.O.S." is as gentle a number as the group has ever done.

In all honesty, not everything works (the five-minute-plus "Ghost Shark" is sabotaged by the gimmicky production). Also, if the playing sounds a little less dynamic, it can be forgiven: Longtime drummer Atom recently departed the band, and Superchunk skins-pounder Jon Wurster stepped in for eight of the 13 songs.

Rocket from the Crypt headlines a Wednesday show at Club DV8, 115 S. West Temple, with the Explosion and International Noise Conspiracy.

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com