Rocket from the Crypt
Scream, Dracula, Scream
Interscope
by Bruno Tersago

Because of this album, the Belgian press calls Rocket from the Crypt the "newest punk rock sensation". That's not entirely true, especially not when, by punk rock we mean the music that's played by bands such as Green Day and Rancid. Moreover, the band is not that new, as it has been making records for almost five years now. Let's just say that Rocket from the Crypt shows a passion for American garage rock'n'roll from the sixties. They combine this with an attitude by which they may be called the KISS from the nineties.

Scream, Dracula, Scream offers a perfect image of the band that Rocket from the Crypt is. This is namely a punk band that wants to make a lot of fun and wants to give people a good time. That's why they play rock'n'roll, but they do it their own way. The first three songs from the album: Middle, Born in '69 and On a Rope still show punk rock influences, but from then onwards Speedo, JC2000, N.D., Atom, Petey X and Apollo 9 head straight for the rock'n'roll.

Again on this album, the backing vocals provide catchy melodies, and the horns once again can give full power. That's why Rocket from the Crypt sometimes is on the thin line between good music and kitsch. Young Livers, Suit City en Come See, Come Saw are fantastic punkrock'n'roll songs, whereas Used and Misbeaten remind me more of a mellow song by Soul Asylum. Ball Lighning is the only song which resembles the material from the earlier albums Paint As A Fragrance or Circa, Now!. But nowhere do I hear anything similar to the music of John Reis' other band Drive Like Jehu. The overall impression after fourteen songs, is, that this San Diego band once again has succeeded in giving me a very nice party evening!

With this album Rocket from the Crypt shows to be ready for the big "breakthrough". It's their first major album (if you don't take into account the re-release of Circa, Now!), and the band has proven in an excellent way that they can keep their credibility and be commercial (with their mix of punk, garage rock and Beach Boys-like backing vocals) at the same time. In short, this is a fantastic album by one of the most fruitful bands of 1995.