Rocket From The Crypt
Circa Now

Personally, revivalists have never been my thing: you know, I always told myself, what enjoyment do they find in rehashing someone else’s style? What particular skill do they show in shaping their music on standards already heard a million times? And, above all, how dare they call their music “alternative” when they are borrowing from successful genres just to achieve the same success? These and a thousand other things I used to wonder...

But then, one morning, I saw a too attractive cover in the window of my regular record store... it seemed to call me, it seemed that it wanted at all costs to make its presence known... I went in and picked up the foxy item... I looked at it, read slowly “rocket from the crypt....circa now”... well... the band’s name didn’t convince me much... but by then that terrible colorful cover had already fascinated me... It’s useless to say that in the end, I gave in and bought it...

At home, I immediately put it in the player, full of innocent curiosity “Judging by the cover, these guys play techno... house... something like that” I thought...

Instead... first chord, first riff... gradually that unknown musical reality takes a definite shape in my room... “Oh! This is 80s hardcore! What year is it? Oh boy, '92... want to bet that I’ve come across the usual punk revisionists, trite and commercial like Green Day or similar stuff...” Well, I quickly realize HOW wrong I was! The first track, “Short Lip Fuser” immediately becomes my personal post-punk masterpiece: a continuous and granite riff and a voice as catchy as it is gritty stand out on an adorable catchy tune, which always changes form without you realizing it, taken as you are to dance endlessly around the room... soon, I conclude that no other song will ever fuse melody and fury so well...

After this first very happy episode, I tell myself “Okay, this one may also work... but I’m sure they now will play dull and worn-out tracks from here to the end”... and I continue to be wrong, luckily! Because “Hippy Dippy Do”, despite its simplicity, cites a lot, gosh does it cite, and WHAT it cites: grunge, surf music, jazz, emocore... “more than just cheap revisionists” I start to think increasingly convinced! And I remain stunned before a track like “Ditch Digger”, which initially has a staggering pace, but then is almost classical in the chorus. The voice filtered by a megaphone, I admit, makes you think a little of Billie Joe (sic!), but there’s no question that the nursery rhyme pace, combined with the amazing emotional charge of the guitars make it another top-tier track...

Increasingly enthusiastic, I savor the remaining tracks with the ever more defined conviction that I’m listening to a genuine masterpiece: “Don’t Darlene” slightly reminds of “Territorial Pissing” by Nirvana with that breakneck pace of the chorus... “Hairball Alley” reflects, I don’t know why, the feeling of a somewhat pissed-off Springsteen... it’s the most songwriter-like track of the bunch. “Sturdy Wrists” starts with a chaotic and deafening saxophone fanfare only to flow into a melody largely covered by the same instrument. And “March of Dimes” is so beautiful, which could very well fit, minus the deafening guitar backdrop, in a Lennon and McCartney album. “Dollar” opens with the help of a stadium choir that dissolves slowly to reveal a slightly “emo-core” structure (you can definitely hear Drive Like Jehu’s influence... yes, indeed! As a matter of fact, guitarist John Reis comes from that group).

My eardrum thus prepares to delight with the last gem: “Glazed” is a musical chameleon; it starts with the usual megaphone, continues with the customary saxophone chaos to outline the contours of a pure Clinton-era beat, and ends, after a thousand twists on itself, with a completely unexpected finale: a continuous and relentless bass line to which a unanimous chorus clings: “Take Back” (or so it seems to me, no lyrics exist for this band), which really seems to go on forever. And the ever-accelerating “ompa-ompa” accompaniment recalls the ending of the Beatles’ “Everybody’s got one” in “I’m the Walrus”...

When the metallic support ends its run, I’m left with the sensation of a very pleasant experience and a new awareness: “Revivalists? Great people!”

P.S.: Highly recommended for those who believe punk is only about rot, sadness, and despair...