45 Grave
Sleep in Safety

THE REVIEW

Ingredients for a perfect horror party:

- 300 meters of fake cobwebs, to hang as you wish
- heavy and excessive makeup, well spread on the faces of each guest
- presence of the words Zombie, Bat, and Blood in the names of each drink or food offered
- 45 Grave in the stereo, with the album "Sleep In Safety" blasted at impossible volumes!

Directly from 80s Los Angeles (the first edition dates back to 1983, Enigma label), "Sleep In Safety" is the testimony of an underworld that thoroughly enjoys itself at the expense of the living. And while we listen, for a moment, we too become part of that party.

"Insurance From God" introduces us to the atmosphere: by candlelight, shadows tremble with the vibrating organ, the true inanimate protagonist of that typically horror sound from B-movies.
But 45 Grave have another protagonist to present: Dinah Cancer, the sexy-trash witch who will take over your home for the next 48 minutes. There's a celebration (Do you wanna paaaaaarty? It's "Party Time"!). And Dinah certainly holds nothing back! Amidst screams, shouts, satanic laughter, Dinah knows how to get you: she knows that deep down, you are a bit "Evil".
The combination of frenetic rhythm and organ gives rise to a gothic version of punk, resonating in "Violent World," as well as in "Dream Hits II" and the eponymous anthem "45 Grave".
But the piece that delivers the most captivating effect is "Surf Bat": the soundtrack of a true horror pulp movie, where refined gangsters roam the streets of a ghost town in luxurious hearses.
It's the peak moment of the party: "Riboflavin" starts (a 60s cover) and the audience sways rhythmically to the beat of this kind of commercial for vampires: come meet the flavored, non-carbonated, and polyunsaturated blood that Dinah has patented for you!

The CD reissue of the album (1993) concludes with a compelling cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" and the single version of "Party Time" (by the way, an additional version of "Party Time" was included in the soundtrack of the movie "The Return of the Living
Dead"!).

Throughout the writing of this review (I am a very slooooow person), I listened to "Sleep in Safety" dozens of times in a row! Now I'm going to my room, turn off the light, but I won't be afraid: 45 Grave taught me that one can sleep safely, with a zombie waving hello from the closet and a smiling vampire at the window.