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The Rocketz
"Rise of the Undead"
Hairball 8
Every
year, there is a new punk rock sub genre that seems to be really
popular within punk rock community
(I apologize
for using the term “punk
rock community”). We had that swing-punk thing (Royal Crown Revue,
Amazing Crowns) of 1998, we had the California Punk invasion of 1994,
we had the Ska invasion of 1995, we had the New York Hardcore invasion
of 1999, and we have the Psychobilly invasion of 2005. And like all
of these trends, after a while, it all blends together.
The band does have a quasi-interesting back-story. Apparently, Angry
John from Down By Law (see 1994 California Punk invasion) got together
with some Tony character to learn to play upright bass. Eventually
Tony asked John to form a band (they already had a bunch of songs written),
but John had other touring obligations, so Tony formed the band with
some other folks.
I told you the story was only QUASI-interesting.
Here
we have the fruit of Angry John’s Psychobilly loins. Unfortunately,
a pretty good album and a somewhat interesting pedigree aren’t
enough to save this band from its destined mediocrity. Tiger Army,
12 Step Rebels, The Nekromantix, The Meteors ALL have something that
the Rocketz just don’t. Be it coffin shaped guitars, a truly
great guitarist, or legend status.
But
lets get to the album. Let me just say that I do enjoy this album.
It’s fun to listen to. The singers voice does get to me at
times. Maybe I don’t like how deep it is. Maybe it at times
sounds like he’s losing a battle with laryngitis. But these
are some really solid songs. They’re not covering any new territory
here. All the Psychobilly bases are covered. Vampires? Check. Zombies?
Check.
Lost love? Check. A song about the police that happens to be a Clash
song? Check… but why? This band has decided, it it’s infinite
wisdom, to cover Police on My Back by the Clash. Covering such a highly
regarded band is always a tricky move. But to cross genres like that
is just a bad idea. Why didn’t they cover Duane Eddy, or Eddie
Cochran, or Jerry Lee Lewis, or Johnny Burnette? This Clash cover makes
no sense and solidifies the utter forget-ability of this album.
Simply
put, if you need to get a Psychobilly album, put this one down and
pick up the 12 Step Rebels. You’ll
be happy you did.
Reviewed
by: Josh Goldfarb
Reviewed on: May 5, 2005
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