Rocket From The Crypt - Rocket Queen EP 7" - Pink Cover

Speedo's Classics (1995, Bootleg)

I have vivid memories buying my first copy of the Rocket Queen EP back in 1995.  I picked it up along with several other Rocket releases at Flipside records in NJ.  Even though this is a bootleg, I've always loved this release.  It gave me the chance to hear three new-to-me Rocket songs at a time when trying to track down the original, Japanese version of All Systems Go was challenging, to say the least.

Three of the four songs were on the Japanese ASG CD: 10 Forward, Ball Of Fire (Or "Ballot Fire" as it's listed here) and "Call It A Complex."  The fourth song is a live version of the Misfits song "I Turned Into a Martian."  These are very much Rocket From The Crypt songs of their era, which is an era of theirs that I truly love.  Brash, loud and lots of distortion, with a melody just creeping in under the surface.

You may be wondering, if I bought this in 1995, why am I writing about it now?  Well, my friends, that's because it's even complicated to collect Rocket From The Crypt bootlegs.  This 7" was released with two completely different covers and then this Tank Girl cover was released in Multiple colors.  I just finally tacked down this pink version to go along side my white, yellow, blue, dark orange and light orange cover versions.  There's even still another white colored cover that has blue text instead of black texy that I'm still looking for.  The quest never ends.

Rocket From The Crypt - "Ball Of Fire":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yHPGq3CEAA&ab_channel=RocketfromtheCrypt-Topic

Rocket From The Crypt - "10 Forward":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qdg9gBWGFQ&ab_channel=RocketfromtheCrypt-Topic

Rocket From The Crypt - Gold 7" - Gold Vinyl (/100)

Drunken Fish (2022, Reissue)

This is sort of a reissue.  But sort of not.  The way it's been described is 100 more of these are being released as a 30th anniversary release, using some leftover sleeves and stickers.  Maybe vinyl too? Or maybe the pressed a few more records for this?  I'm not really sure to be honest.   

This was never my favorite Rocket From The Crypt release, at least from the music side of things.  It's a cover of an MC5 song that certainly isn't the first song I'd think of if covering them was on the day's agenda.  Rocket's version turns it into an even more ramshackle scene, Saxophone aping the bass line of the original.  A supremely chaotic noise jam that devolves into Speedo screaming "power" for a minute into that vocal apparatus that they used to great effect distorting vocals in the early 90s.

Pressing wise, there are two major differences between this release and the original.  First is that the back cover, which says "EDITION OF 500" has had the "500" crossed out and "100" was written next to it in ink.  Next, the inner sleeve isn't white, it's that sort of brown/yellow color of a mailing envelope.  No beads like some of the first pressing of this record had.  I'm not opening mine, there's really no reason as I have other, open copies.  So the record that you see is in the first picture is actually one of my first pressings.  The second picture is the back of this new pressing.

Rocket From The Crypt - "Gold":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmJyKN23mo&ab_

Rocket From The Crypt – Live From Camp X-Ray LP - Yellow w/ Black Splatter Vinyl

Vagrant (2022, Reissue)

And here is the second bonus post of the week.  Because I missed Monday and because there isn't much to say about two records that I've already written about five other times each, I decided to post these on Tuesday and Thursday - days that I typically don't write anything.  Thus, bonus.

Another reissue of Live From Camp X-Ray, this time on yellow w/ black splatter.  I don't understand vinyl colors that have nothing to do with the artwork or color scheme, but alas, not all share that opinion.  No matter the vinyl color, if you put a Rocket From The Crypt record in front of me, I will buy it.

Rocket From The Crypt – Live From Camp X-Ray:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nKnmzeI1FIkTtSDffvbLqcPOwW_sQhUt0

Rocket From The Crypt – Group Sounds LP - Orange w/ Black & White Splatter

Vagrant (2022, Reissue)

I wasn't able to get anything written up for yesterday, so I'm going to throw out a couple of bonus posts today and Thursday to make up for it.  Also because neither of these records really warrant a full on write up, since they are just different colored vinyl variants of records I have opined on numerous times in the past.  Vagrant just seems intent on giving me the option to buy these records over and over again.

And speaking of, here it is: the newest version of Group Sounds.  This time it's pressed using the orange with black splatter color way that's typically more associated with Live From Camp X-Ray.  But, I am an annoying variant hunter for Rocket From The Crypt, so I must keep the collection up to date.  It's also an amazing record, but you can read about why in one of the other five posts I've put up about this record.

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6lTOyJ0taau3r39jaedwqgMTAlHG4z1o

Rocket From The Crypt - Live From Camp X-Ray LP - Orange with Black & Yellow Splatter (/500)

Vagrant (2021, Reissue)

This is the companion post to last week's Group Sounds review.  As part of the Vagrant Records twenty fifth birthday thing, they've been rereleasing records from their past.  As they had two Rocket records, it was probably inevitable that they'd be rereleased again.  This time out though they were exclusives sold through Newbury Comics.  

This was the last Rocket From The Crypt full length to be released and the fact that it is eighteen years old is a little crazy.  I keep hoping and hoping that we'll get another one someday, but so far there isn't anything in sight, I'll just have to keep on hoping I suppose.

This vinyl variant looks great with the album artwork, but it's also super similar to the 2013 reissue they did for that year's Record Store Day.  I'm fine always buying whatever variants are released to keep the archive up to date, but I wish they had done a version that was a little bit more unique.  While this is certainly the best looking version and is an improvement to the 2013 one, it is pretty much the same and I'm not sure why they didn't make it stand out just a bit more.

Then again, most people probably aren't idiots like me that own six versions of this same record...

Rocket From The Crypt - Live From Camp X-Ray:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nKnmzeI1FIkTtSDffvbLqcPOwW_sQhUt0

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds LP - Yellow w/ Black Splatter Vinyl (/500)

Vagrant (2021, Reissue)

For Vagrant Records' twenty-fifth anniversary, they are rereleasing some records from their catalog.  To say that label had an uneven output of albums is the understatement of the century, but they did give the world a few John Reis releases, so they get a pass on the rest.

In addition to being part of the Vagrant reissue campaign, this particular version of Group Sounds was released as a Newbury Comics exclusive variant, limited to five hundred copies.  I already have five other versions of this on vinyl (and two on CD), but I just can't help myself from buying Rocket records.  The urge to have a complete archive of every version of every release is something I just can't shake.  Which is why the red vinyl version of the Pure Genius 7" haunts me daily.  Someone sell that to me please.

Anyway, this version looks pretty solid.  Yellow with splatter.  I don't know that it really stands out as being anything better or worse than the other colorways out there, but when you get to the tunes themselves, there are few records in this land as great as this twenty year old masterpiece.\

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6lTOyJ0taau3r39jaedwqgMTAlHG4z1o

Rocket From The Crypt / Dead Bolt - Split 7" - Pink Cover

Standard (1992)

It's rare that I get to buy a new Rocket From The Crypt release these days.  I am committed to trying to track down every single stupid variant of every one of their records, but at this point there's really not many left.  That said, something new always manages to pop up and this 7" is an example of that.

I have had a version of this record since around 1995.  That version had a blue sleeve.  In the early 2000s I found out there was a version with a yellow sleeve as well, so that was added to the archives.  Well, it turns out there was a third version that showed up on eBay a few weeks ago.  This one has a pink sleeve.  Aside from that it's the same as the other two, but whenever I find a Rocket From The Crypt record that I previously didn't know about, it makes me wonder what else could be floating around out there.  Probably more than I really want to know at the end of the day.

Song wise, I can't say too much about Deadbolt.  Their spooky surf didn't really grab me in the 90s and I've probably only listened to their side of this record a couple of times at the most.  But the Rocket side is a favorite of mine.  "Cha Cha Cha" blasts forward with pick slides, hammered chords and that fuzzy vocal feedback that was present on so many of those early RFTC masterpieces.  I just love it and it still gets me pumped up all these years later.  Give it up for the band.

Rocket From The Crypt - "Cha Cha Cha":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF_jMxwopk0

Deadbolt - "Down In The Lab":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJs7SzQOPx0

Rocket From The Crypt - Bootleg 12"

Bootleg (20??)

This bootleg, one sided 12" has been kicking around for a few years, occasionally popping up on Discogs or eBay at a ridiculous price.  I'm not sure where they came from or why someone would be bootlegging anyone, let along Rocket From The Crypt, these days.  But in an effort to keep the collection complete I did pick up a copy when I found one that dropped to a semi reasonable price.

The songs on here haven't ever been released on vinyl before, so that's a plus.  The record starts out with the song "My Silverhead."  This is one of those Rocket tracks with a mysterious pass.  For the longest time, the rumor was that this song was preloaded on some wacky MP3 player that was sold in the burgeoning days of that technology.  I have no proof that this is the case, but the song has been circulating on the dark web ever since.  The version on this 12" sounds way better than the MP3 that I have, so I'm pretty pleased that this is on here.

The next three songs are three of the four extra tracks that came on the expanded Circa Now
+4 reissue that came out on Swami a while ago.  I'm not sure why they left off "Flight of the Hobo," but since that expanded version of Circa Now didn't come out on vinyl, I don't mind having these songs on that format.  But again, why wouldn't you put on all four?  The bizarre choices one makes when illegally releasing records I guess...

The 12" finishes up with two live cover songs.  These seem to be taken from an in store performance.  When Group Sounds came out, Rocket played a few afternoon in stores before their real show later that evening.  They were loose and low key and the one I went to at Tower Records in NYC was a blast.  The two songs here are covers of "Down In The Boondocks" and "Blue Cowboy."  Both are fun and the sound quality is pretty good all things considered.

While I would prefer an official vinyl release for all of these songs, this 12" is still a decent little addition to the Rocket collection.  They made a few odd choices with track selection and the track list on the sleeve itself is totally wrong ("Lambs For Sale" anyone?), but the sound quality of the vinyl is pretty good and the songs are, of course, pretty damn great.

Rocket From The Crypt - Return To Monkey Island 7" - Picture Disc

Self Released (2017)

Towards the end of last year the greatest band on the planet, Rocket From The Crypt, went on the UK tour.  They brought with them this two song 7" that was only available at those shows.  So far, that has held true.  This record hasn't been sold anywhere else and has become one of the harder to find releases in the Rocket catalog.  For whatever reason I figured they'd have some of these leftover and would sell them stateside, but that hasn't been the case yet.  Perhaps it's because of less Rocket shows with Hot Snakes taking the spotlight currently, but I do hope these are released to some more folks that desperately want them.

I'm lucky.  I had a friend pick me up a copy at one of the UK shows.  So, I'll take this opportunity to say thank you, and I highly encourage everyone to buy as many records from Drunken Sailor as possible.  Though that's a cheap plug, I do mean it and would say that even if the juice man hadn't picked this up for me.

On this 7" we have two brand spanking new Rocket FromThe Crypt songs.  The first is "Waiting for the Shoe to Fall."  It starts off with a simple guitar riff that reminds me a little bit of the Sultans, but the song just grows from there.  The hook on this thing is unreal.  I don't think the Speedo John gets nearly enough credit for how god damn catchy his songs can be.  The punk rock bonafides can never be questioned, but the dude can write a hook.  Once the chorus kicks in, the horns swell and stay involved for the duration of the song, elevating everything.  If this is a taste of what we could hear on a future rocket album, sign me up.

On the B side we have "Too Dangerous."  This one has some guitar work that at first, makes me thing about one of the shorter, more straightforward Night Marchers songs.  But like on the A side, once the horns hit and the chorus revs up, it is unmistakably Rocket From The Crypt.  Like "Waiting For The Shoe To Fall," "Too Dangerous" is a short powerful blast of Rocket energy in the verse and the sort of chorus that I can just imagine myself jumping up and down to surrounded by my Swami family.  If it's not obvious, I love both of these. 

It still feels surreal to have new Rocket From The Crypt songs.  Greedily I just wish we had more.  I love Hot Snakes and could not possible be more thrilled that they have a new record and are touring.  But if I'm being honest, Rocket From The Crypt is my favorite band in the whole wide world.  Once this batch of Hot Snakes shows wrap up, I really hope Rocket gets down to the task of a new album.  I can't think of anything more exciting than a possibility of a dozen or so new songs by the mighty RFTC.

Rocket From The Crypt - Live From Camp X-Ray LP - White w/ Black Splatter

Vagrant (2016, Reissue)

This version of Live From Camp X-Ray is the last of the newer Vagrant reissues to write about.  Like most of the others, it's a splatter vinyl variant.  I will say that even though these colors don't really go with the color scheme of the artwork particularly well, I do like the way this looks more than a lot of the others.  It's one of the more simple and classy looking splatters that I've seen.

Music is just as good as always, so there's not really a ton more to say, particularly after the yarn I spun about this album last week.  So enjoy the picture and but the record if you don't already own five copies of it.

Rocket From The Crypt - "I'm Not Invisible":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK01FtMags0

Rocket From The Crypt - "Too Many Balls":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqv3vg04Pmw

Rocket From The Crypt - Live From Camp X-Ray LP - Clear w/ Orange & Black Splatter

Vagrant (2017, Reissue)

Rocket From The Crypt is my favorite band.  All I know about writing about their records is to gush about how much I love them.  Live From Camp X-Ray is another record of theirs that I love.  It's short, but it's a powerful blast of rock and roll straight into my soul.  It also has a special place in my heart as it I was involved in promoting it to college radio in a past life.

I also promoted Group Sounds to radio when that came out, but I was a new member of the radio team at that time.  While my Rocket tattoo was certainly used as a bargaining chip to help my company get on that record, I didn't have any contact with Vagrant and didn't have much to do with it on that side of the promotion world. (It's a weird thing, different promotion companies had to seek out record labels and convince them we were the best team to promote their record.  It was an interesting part of the job).  But I pushed Group Sounds as hard as I could to the radio stations I dealt with. My favorite part was convincing stations that they had to play it the week of my birthday that year.  I got a lot of extra spins that week. What a bizarre job.

By the time Live From Camp X-Ray was coming out, I had moved up the ladder and had many more labels that I was in charge of communicating with.  The moment I heard a whisper about this new Rocket record, I was immediately on the phone with Vagrant trying to make sure we could be involved.  There is no one who would have promoted this record to radio harder than I would, surely they would see that pretty quickly.  For whatever reason, the dude that worked at Vagrant that was in charge of the promotion and hiring of indie promoters for radio was being difficult.  I'm not sure if he was trying to get me to jump through hoops or maybe he just didn't like me, but he cat and moused me for weeks and weeks and just wouldn't give me any information or commit to anything.

Around this time John Reis came to town to play a show.  I actually can't remember for sure if it was a Rocket or Hot Snakes show (I could probably look it up and figure it out, but I need to finish this up), but it was definitely at the Bowery Ballroom.  I searched him out (I had started talking to him recently so that my company could help promote the Swami records releases) to just get his ear about wanting to do the Rocket record.  John was his usual super awesome self and said he'd put a word in.  I consider myself truly lucky to have been able to work with him in any capacity and to have at least a tiny part in helping out some of my favorite records of all time.  

I went back to work the next day and did my weekly follow up call with the Vagrant dude and he reacted really negatively towards the fact that I had spoken to John and accused me of going over his head.  I couldn't tell if he was joking or not but it was all very odd.  Fast forward a few more weeks and I got a call from a different guy at Vagrant.  He said the first guy was no longer with the company, the new guy (who I had actually known from other places) was taking over the promotion side for a bit and that my company was officially hired on Live From Camp X-Ray effective immediately.

He gave me everything I needed and sent over an advance of the record and I've been listening to it constantly ever since.  We had a nice little run with Live From Camp X-Ray and I consider it a highlight of my radio promo career.  We made a photo copy of my Rocket tattoo and mailed it out along with the CD and the bio sheet when we sent the album out to stations.  It was good times.

This newer repress is on clear vinyl with some black and orange splatter.  It looks pretty good for a splatter, though that's not my favorite vinyl type.  I would have gone with a black and orange split color, personally, but as always, I'm glad to add to the ever growing and apartment consuming Rocket From The Crypt record collection. Long live the dead.

Rocket From The Crypt - "I'm Not Invisible":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK01FtMags0

Rocket From The Crypt - "Too Many Balls":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqv3vg04Pmw

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds LP - Yellow Vinyl

Vagrant (2016, Reissue)

This is the last of the Vagrant 20th anniversary reissues of Group Sounds.  It's on solid, translucent yellow vinyl.  I suppose it's the least interesting of the three newer reissues, though I will admit that yellow is my favorite color so I have a bit of a soft spot for it.

Considering that the others were wackier splatter variants, I'm not sure how this relatively tame third one ended up coming out.  The color doesn't really tie into the artwork particularly well.  You could make an argument that the cobra is yellow, but that's kind of stretching it and the cobra certainly isn't the same color as the LP itself.  

It could just be one of those unsolvable mysteries, but if there's a Rocket From The Crypt variant out there, it needs a loving home in my collection.  All three of these reissues have that loving home now.  I'll write up the two Live From Camp X-Ray reissues next.

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6lTOyJ0taau3r39jaedwqgMTAlHG4z1o

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds LP - Clear w/ Black & Yellow Splatter Vinyl

Vagrant (2016)

This is the second of three Group Sounds reissues that my wife got me for Christmas.  I'm pretty fortunate that she doesn't mind stoking the fire of this collection that has rapidly taken over most rooms in our place.  All I can say is that I'm a lucky, lucky guy.

I like this variant better than the one from last week.  Though splatter vinyl isn't my favorite of vinyl colors, at least this one takes some colors from the actual artwork to use.  I'm not entirely sure why last week's had blue splatter.  Sure there's a bit of blue on the insert, but it just seemed a bit out of place.  Though let's be honest, the best variant of this LP was the record store day variant on white vinyl with yellow splatter from a few years ago.  That one made the most sense anyway.

No matter how you slice it, that doesn't change the fact that this is one of the all time best Rocket records.  Maybe most people don't need so many copies of the same record, but I for whatever reason, I do.  I have one more version of this album that I'll post next week, then it's on to Live From Camp X-Ray.

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6lTOyJ0taau3r39jaedwqgMTAlHG4z1o

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds LP - Clear w/ Blue Splatter Vinyl

Vagrant (2016, Reissue)

Back in 2016, Vagrant rereleased a handful of records as part of their 20th anniversary.  Two of the records that received the reissue treatment were the two albums that Rocket From The Crypt released for them.  Despite my unhealthy need to own every crazy variant of every Rocket From The Crypt record, I dragged my feet picking them up.  They seemed kind of pricy and also felt a little unnecessary.  They were always on my list of records to pick up, but I kept prioritizing other things.

Luckily for me, I have an amazing wife who really understands and tolerates my stupid hobbies more than anyone actually should.  She picked up all of the rereleases for me for my birthday and Christmas.  I'm going to be trotting them out over the next few weeks.  There likely won't be a lot to say about them as the only difference is the vinyl color, but it is fun for me to document.

This version of Group Sounds comes on clear vinyl with blue splatter.  Splatter variants aren't usually my favorite and on this one I'm not really sure how those colors tie in to the artwork, but so be it.  I'd like to think that if you're reading my website I don't need to tell you what an amazing album this is.  Ranking Rocket records is a difficult task for me, but I can safely say Group Sounds is one of my favorites.  If you're not familiar, please go listen right away.  A wonderful new world awaits.

Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6lTOyJ0taau3r39jaedwqgMTAlHG4z1o

Rocket From The Crypt - Don't Drop The Baby 7" - 2 Versions

Swami (2016)

So this is pretty momentous, a new record by Rocket From The Crypt.  What's even more exciting is that unless this is a really obscure cover song that I can't find any information about, this is the first proper new Rocket song since the band got back together a couple of years ago.  I could not be more excited about this, if the world needs one thing right now, it's new Rocket From The Crypt music.

The story of this 7" is a little convoluted. Originally, the intent was to only have this available at the ill fated Drive Like Jehu curated All Tomorrow's Party.  When that festival shit the bed, this turned into a record that was being sold at some recent Rocket From The Crypt shows.  It started out in Denver Colorado and was sold as a one sided 7" with only the hand stamped artwork.  A good friend picked up a copy for me and I am forever grateful to him.

A few weeks later this 7" reappeared at the band's Chicago shows and then made the rounds on the East coast, stopping at New York City, Asbury Park and Boston.  This time around, in addition to the hand stamped cover, the blank B-side was replaced with the fancy screen printing that you see on the right.  This did two things.  First, it made the 7" about seventy three percent cooler than it already was.  But the second thing it did was create a rarer version without the screen print that seems to have been only sold at the Denver show.  Kind of neat and definitely keeps in line with Rocket From The Crypt's sprawling and complicated discography.  One of the toughest bands in the world to collect, I assure you.

Oh, and on top of everything else, the song is a sure fire hit single.  Chugging start/stop guitars, huge backing vocals and to sort of big hook that only Speedo can dish out.  It's a great song and leaves me thirsting for more.  All I can do is hope that this 7" is part of some sort of master plan to bring a new Rocket album into the world.  The fact that they are working on new material at all is cause for celebration, I just hope it leads to more.

Can't seem to find this song online anywhere at the moment, aside from as part of a radio show on WFMU, that also has a Rocket live set, so it's worth a listen:

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/67758

Happy Birthday Scream Dracula Scream

Interscope / Headhunter (1995)

Another big 20th anniversary today. Happy Birthday to Rocket From The Crypt's Scream Dracula Scream.  A huge record in an incredible catalog of music from the greatest band of all time.

I bought my first copy of this record a couple of months before it came out. I picked up an advance copy from a creepy guy selling promo CDs on a blanket dumped down on the sidewalk at the Dover Flea Market in NJ.  That is how much I couldn't wait for this album to come out.  It was everything I had hoped for and more. 20 years later it is every bit as great as it was the first time I listened to it.

"We hope you can relate to our desire to rock and roll. punk is dead."

Sonny Vincent And Rocket From The Crypt - Vintage Piss LP

Swami (2015)

It was interesting to see that this record was suddenly for sale via the mighty Swami records as I had picked up a version of it as an import from Germany quite a few years ago.  Though I realize it never came out in the US, I was still somewhat surprised it was been reissued all these years later.  Let me assure you this is a pretty essential pick up even if you have the other version.

For starters there's 2 extra songs.  Don't get me wrong, they're both pretty great and I'm happy to have them on this album, but the real highlight of this reissue is that it has been remixed, remastered and re-whatever else it is they did to make this album sound so much better than the original version.  It sounds so much fuller and the guitars are significantly sharper and more caustic than ever before.  The bass and drumming is much meatier than the prior version and while I won't quite say it sounds like a whole new record, the difference in fidelity between the two versions is pretty remarkable.  

The songs themselves are the kind of no nonsense punk rock that Sonny Vincent has been cranking out since his time with the Testors.  Short, sweet and deceptively catchy.  There's a lot to love on this album, but for me, the highlight is "It's Not Your Fault."  It could easily be a lost Sultans song with its sing along chorus and stop/start guitar riff.

If you don't already have this, it's worth picking up.  If you already have the original German version, it's still worth picking up.  Until I actually listened to this record I though I was just buying another variant to keep my Rocket From The Crypt collection complete.  Turns out I needed this more than I knew.

Sonny Vincent And Rocket From The Crypt - "It's Not Your Fault":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU_Hu0caYAs

Rocket From The Crypt - Gold 7" - Gold Vinyl, "No Funk" Version (#7 of 12)

Drunken Fish (1992)

So yeah, fellow Rocket From The Crypt fans who spend a lot of time on eBay, it was me.  I'm the one that picked this up for $325.  I haven't dropped that much scratch on a single record in a really long time, but at this point there aren't many Rocket From The Crypt records I don't already have squirreled away in the archive.

This is the third variant of the Gold 7".  The normal one was limited to 500 copies.  There were also a version that came packaged with some plastic beads. The rumor has always been about 50 of these were released.  This final version was limited to only twelve copies and were hand numbered as being "No Funk."  This one that I grabbed is number seven.  It has a completely different sleeve with the words "There will be no funk in outer space" printed on the cover.  

I had heard rumors of this version for quite some time, but for years there wasn't any real proof that it actually existed.  A picture of it finally ended up popping up on the John Pette Rocket discography page, so the hunt was on once that happened.  I'm actually kind of surprised one turned up, I didn't think I'd ever have the chance to buy it.  Oh, and don't worry, I didn't actually open it.  I grabbed the record out of one of my other copies to take a picture of.

The song itself isn't even one of my favorites.  "Gold" is an MC5 cover and is a noisy, shouting mess of a song.  There's a certain charm to it and I do kind of miss those early Rocket From The Crypt days when they were spitting out all sorts of off beat, crazy noise.  Not that I have any issue at all with the non-stop hit machine they turned into, but I think some people overlook that early 1990's period of theirs.  Some pretty creative stuff going on.

It's hard to express why I feel compelled to spend $325 on a record that I already have two versions of.  I assume it's some sort of sickness, but I just have this thing about having a complete collection.  Anyone who has followed the Rocket From The Crypt discography will know that trying to complete this collection is a foolhardy task.  There are so many weirdo variations and errors and other assorted things keeping the collectors always searching, but I'm getting closer.  I think (and this is only true until the next bizarre variant is discovered) that I only have one more Rocket From The Crypt 7" left to find.  So as I've said a few times, if you have a lead on the Pure Genius 7" on red vinyl, please let me know.  I'll happily overpay for it.

Rocket From The Crypt - "Gold":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmJyKN23mo

Rocket From The Crypt - My Blues Away 7" - Clear Vinyl (/400)

Swami (2013)

The last stop on Rocket From The Crypt's 2013 UK tour was on December 7th in Dublin.  It wrapped up their tour and also wrapped up the Hits The Monkey Islands tour 7" series.  The final band covered was The Boomtown Rats.  This was another band that I was not at all familiar with, so until I searched out and fired up the original, I didn't really have much to compare Rocket's version to.

While the The Boomtown Rats' version of "My Blues Away" is a harmonica tinged stomper; Rocket From The Crypt's take is a little more robust.  They keep the descending honky tonk guitar riff, but add on a generous amount of cowboy bar style piano banging.  The horns are more sparse here than on any other 7" in the set, but when they kick in, it really adds emphasis.  Parts remind me a little of "Killy Kill," but this is another song that really stands out in Rocket's catalog of covers.

That wraps up the series, sadly.  Being able to see Rocket From The Crypt again this past year was a real treat.  They are the best live band that has ever walked the planet.  The extra bonus of six new 7"s only makes this reunion even better.  I know no one in the band has confirmed or denied the possibility of a new album, but after these six cover songs I want to hear new music from Rocket From The Crypt more than ever.

Rocket From The Crypt - My Blues Away:
https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120760058%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-5sv4g

The Boomtown Rats - My Blues Away:
https://myspace.com/theboomtownrats/music/song/my-blues-away-39831338-42231391

Rocket From The Crypt - Shy Fly 7" - Green Vinyl (/400)

Swami (2013)

Here we are on part 5 of the Hits The Monkey Island tour 7" series.  This one was originally sold at Rocket From The Crypt's December 6th 2013 show in London.  The band that Rocket tackled this time out was Status Quo and the song is "Shy Fly."  Status Quo is another band I'm not particularly familiar with, though having listened to their version of "Shy Fly" I'll say that aside from the Buzzcocks, they've got the best of the originals that Rocket has decided to cover.

The Rocket From The Crypt version is a mid temp song.  It alternates between big crunchy chords and single note guitar lead riffs.  There's an odd start/stop thing going on in the verse that holds back the momentum of the song a bit, but once they hit that chorus...look out.  It's a huge piano and horn driven chorus that really makes the song.  It lacks some of the vaguely psychedelic notes that the original version of the song has, but the Rocket version is significantly louder, fuller and more powerful.

All in all, another great 7".  We've only got 1 more tour date and one last 7" to go to wrap up the series, but that will have to wait until Monday.

Rocket From The Crypt - Shy Fly:
https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120760050%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-YxjTP

Status Quo - Shy Fly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlt8jryWf0Y