The Cramps crawl from the grave in ‘Gravest Gravy’, recorded in ’77

After the passing of frontman Lux Interior in 2009, Cramps fans figured that the band itself was permanently laid to rest. No more new music. No more tours. Well, it’s time to kick open the crypt and pull out a 49-year-old time capsule.

Get ready for ‘Gravest Gravy’.

Recorded in October 1977, shelved for nearly five decades, and now finally clawing its way out of the catacombs and onto turntables (courtesy of Vengeance Records), Gravest Gravy isn’t some half-finished collection of demos assembled to satisfy collectors. It’s a look into the exact moment before The Cramps disrupted underground rock ‘n’ roll forever.

If you’re expecting a polished and mature sound, think again. This thing bites. It’s raw, gritty — the dirtiest of The Cramps. And let me elaborate why. Before Songs the Lord Taught Us, before Psychedelic Jungle, before psychobilly became an entire movement, there was Lux Interior, Poison Ivy, Bryan Gregory, and Nick Knox crammed into Ardent Studios with renowned producer Alex Chilton at the controls. Chilton’s approach was simple: forget what you came here to record, play everything you know.

Out of this musical vomit came “Human Fly”, “Domino”, and “Surfin’ Bird”. The rest? They’ve been sitting patiently in the dark, on the shelf, waiting almost 50 years for someone to resurrect. Each track — some with multiple mixes — was interned on seven 1/4 reels that, by some miracle, survived the test of time. After careful transfer by Brian Kehew, the restoration team — consisting of Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye (owners and operators of RAM Prod), working alongside Poison Ivy and others at The Cramps, Inc. — then sifted and selected the best versions of each song before sending them off to get mixed and mastered by Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA and Infrasonic Sound in Nashville.

The finished product: 12 never-before-heard Cramps recordings.

Gravest Gravy has Lux already sounding completely unhinged… crooning, shrieking, and swaggering like a late-night horror host possessed by Little Richard. Poison Ivy’s guitar slices through every track with that unmistakable razor-wire twang, while Bryan Gregory drenches everything in deliciously grimy menace. Nick Knox, meanwhile, pounds away ominously.

Beyond new music, there’s the thrill of hearing songs you thought you knew inside and out. Early versions of “Jungle Hop”, “Can’t Find My Mind”, “The Natives Are Restless”, and Ronnie Dawson’s “Rockin’ Bones” eventually surfaced on Psychedelic Jungle, but hearing these 1977 takes is like diving into an alternate timeline where Bryan Gregory never left the band. They’re rougher, twitchier, and oozing with that late 70s punk ethos.

Then, there are the deep cuts and covers.

The Cramps devour Paul Revere and the Raiders‘ “Hungry”, complete with Alex Chilton on organ. “Rocket in My Pocket” explodes with frenzied macabre, while “Problem Child” sounds exactly like the kind of rockabilly nightmare only The Cramps could conjure up. These tracks gasp. They growl. They rattle your speakers with guttural grotesqueness.

And knowing that Lux and Ivy nearly released Gravest Gravy in 1989 makes finally hearing it all the sweeter. The artwork had been chosen. The mixes were finished. The title was waiting. Then… nothing. The album disappeared into legend — until now.

Fortunately, this resurrection couldn’t have landed in better hands. The launch of The Cramps Inc. and the revival of Vengeance Records are the caretakers finally giving one of rock’s most influential bands the archival treatment they’ve always deserved. Turns out, the band’s mausoleum still had one hell of a story left to tell.

And this is only the beginning for The Cramps, Inc.

Working alongside Revolver Distribution, the group is planning to reissue 1981’s RockinnreelininAucklandNewZealand, 1983’s Smell Of Female, 1990’s Stay Sick!, and so many others. But first — a master recording that started it all. Gravest Gravy is set for release on all digital outlets on August 21st, as well as via CD and multi-colored vinyl. You know you want that vinyl; it’s the only format these tracks were meant for. For more information or to pre-order your copy today, visit the official pre-order store or the links below. Stay sick! Turn blue!

The Cramps – “TV Set” official video by Jason Willis

Track listing:

1. TV Set
2. Weekend On Mars
3. Twist & Shout
4. Jungle Hop
5. Can’t Hardly Stand It
6. Hungry
7. The Natives Are Restless
8. Domino
9. Can’t Find My Mind
10. Rockin’ Bones
11. Problem Child
12. Rocket In My Pocket

Pre-order ‘Gravest Gravy’ today:

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Cover photography by David Godlis

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Disclaimer: All views presented in this album review are those of the reviewer and not necessarily those of Top Shelf Music.