Home Read Classic Album Review: Rocket From The Crypt | Live From Camp X-Ray

Classic Album Review: Rocket From The Crypt | Live From Camp X-Ray

The San Diego punk&B veterans play to their strengths on their seventh studio set.

This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


In these uncertain times, it’s nice to have something you can count on. Thankfully, John Reis and Rocket From The Crypt seem happy to oblige.

This veteran San Diego punk&B outfit have been around for 12 years, and in that time, they’ve changed members and record companies more than once. But they’ve never monkeyed with their trademark sound, a fusion of pumping riff-punk and punchy horns that sounds a bit like Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes jamming with Supersuckers. That’s what they delivered on their first six albums — including their 1995 classic Scream, Dracula, Scream — and it’s damn well what you get on their deceptively (and cheekily) titled seventh studio effort, Live From Camp X-Ray. Spurred along by the choppy guitar work and gritty barked vocals of frontman Reis (aka Speedo), these 10 tracks clock in at less than 27 minutes yet pack more punch than a Golden Gloves tourney. Count on it.

 

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