Tuesday, 18 February 2014

NEW(ISH) CRAMPS COMPILATION


THE CRAMPS

RARE TRACKS Demo, Rehearsals, B-Sides, Soundtracks
 

I’ve always had a soft spot for The Cramps. They’re one of the (few) bands that I heard when I was first discovering non-commercial music way back when, that have retained an appeal for me. I’m still buying their records all these years later, and they feature on the playlist fairly regularly........... Perhaps I should grow up. Ha Ha.

This double LP collection was released in about 2012, but I only came across one in a record shop recently. I saw it in the rack, looked, went hmmmm.... and put it back. I kept glancing back to check no one else picked it up, then went “just go and get the fuckin’ thing”.

While I own most of the earlier vinyl stuff (up to 1990’S “Stay Sick”), I’m no tragic when it comes to The Cramps. This compilation is geared to the later period of the band, which I’m relatively unfamiliar with, but it’s a great romp,  and there’s something for every Cramps fan.

The bulk of the two record set features B-sides of  various singles and EP’s from 1985 -1994. The first record (Yellow Vinyl) is all B-sides from this period, with the exception of “Twist and Shout” from the “Songs The Lord Taught Us Sessions” Highlights of the B-sides are mid period cuts ”Blue Moon Baby” the flipside of “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog” and "Jackyard Backoff", the flipside from 1990’s “Bikini Girls with Machine Guns” (I remembered that one from a LONG time ago when I bought that 7” for a friend and wished I’d got one for myself). Interestingly, their take on “Peter Gunn” and “Jailhouse Rock” steer right away from the traditional (in The Cramps inimitable style) and veer on ridiculous, but you know they wouldn’t have it any other way.
 
 

Record Two (Black Vinyl) comprises only two  B –Sides, the rest is made up of  miscellaneous recordings. As I said, there’s something to please everyone. Although it doesn’t indicate it on the cover, there are some live cuts here. “Beautiful Gardens” is pleasingly and appropriately wild, as is “She said”, which is worth it for Lux’s monologue alone.  “Surfin’ Dead” is the soundtrack song (From Return of the Living Dead), which isn’t one of their more memorable songs. “Rumble Blue” is an ’81 rehearsal, and I assume it features the original (Bryan Gregory) line-up. The other rehearsal cuts -  “Lonesome Town”,” Journey to the Centre of a Girl”, and “Jackyard Backoff” (here for the second time) are unfortunately a bit tame for my liking, as is the studio cut of “Call of the Wighat”from ‘82 .                   

Package wise this is pretty damn good, particularly for a bootleg.  Containing 24 songs in all, it comes in a huge fold out poster cover with heaps of pics. For the die-hard fan there may yield nothing new picture wise, but it’s still pretty impressive, and showcase all eras of the Cramps in their various incarnations. In some ways misleading perhaps, the front cover features the Kid Congo era Line up, but I can’t be sure if he actually features on any of the songs here (my guess is the live songs though). The impressive back cover pic featuring short lived bassist Candy  Fur had no recorded output (studio or live).  One of the vinyls is coloured, the other one is plain black, and there are varying combinations available. The sound quality is pretty good, particularly the B-Sides, but the rehearsal and live stuff are perfectly passable for what they are as well.   The only real quibble I have is that there’s minimal info on the songs - most have no info- like what was the A-side of the song, what was the line up, when was it recorded etc. That info, accompanied by pics of the singles would have really topped off this collection.

All up, a great bookend to any Cramps collection. If your’e a hard-core Cramps collector, it’s worth getting, there may be something you don’t have, or just for the package alone, same if your’e more of a casual Cramps fan – it’ll keep you entertained. If your’e looking for an introduction (?) to The Cramps perhaps get one of the first Couple of LP’s and check’ em out.

RIP LUX
PUNK- ROCK’N’FRICKENROLL VINYL ONLY chrismccousin@gmail.com

 

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