Rocket From The Tombs
The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs

THE REVIEW

"Paradise was Detroit, Michigan", according to Lester Bangs.

Indeed, for a young outcast, a loser, and in general for those living on the fringes of society, the Midwest of the late '60s - early '70s was the perfect place to unleash one's restlessness. Thus, the area between Detroit and Cleveland gave birth to seminal bands that would somehow influence the music scenes of New York and the Bay Area in the late '70s and early '80s, contributing to the birth of American punk (the British one was a different thing and had deeper social origins) and subsequently to the so-called post-punk genres.  

In Cleveland during those years (we are in 1973-74), there was a music critic named David Thomas. Along with Gene O'Connor (alias Cheetah Chrome), Craig Bell, Johnny Madansky, and especially Peter Laughner, he gave life to the short-lived Rocket From The Tombs. The album (released by indie label Smog Veil) that we present to you is a "live" collection of the very few performances that RFTT put together in the 8 months of the group's existence (incidentally, some of which opened for Iron Butterfly concerts). The collection of pieces provides a precise picture of the rock scene of those years. It is particularly evident how, at the time, the United States (after the glories of Californian psychedelia) were returning to their violent and abrasive garage origins, in the perfect style of Mc5 and Stooges. And indeed, the album features Raw Power and Search & Destroy in extremely raw and violent versions. From the ashes of RFTT emerged two fundamental bands for avant-rock and punk, namely Pere Ubu (of Thomas and Laughner) and Dead Boys (of Chrome and Bators, the latter replacing Thomas on vocals in RFTT's last performances). And the album's tracklist is bursting with tracks that would become classics for Ubu and Dead Boys. The former took back "Life Stinks" (featured on the masterpiece "Modern Dance"), the post-apocalyptic anthem "Final Solution" and "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (both released as singles and later included in the "Terminal
Tower" collection). The Dead Boys took back "What love is", "Down in Flames", "Caught with the Meat in your Mouth", "Ain't it Fun" and the legendary "Sonic Reducer".

We recommend this album not because it is a masterpiece (for that, look for the first two albums by Pere Ubu and Dead Boys), but for the historical importance of the performances contained, because it is one of those bands (along with Electric Eels, another seminal band from Cleveland) that kept the teachings of the Stooges alive, awaiting the moment when the New York punk scene was ready to explode. The legend of RFTT not only lives on in the subsequent works of its members but also thanks to the numerous covers proposed over the years by successful groups (Guns'n'Roses and Pearl Jam).

One last thought goes to Peter Laughner; if you have the chance, I strongly recommend the article written in his memory by his friend Lester Bangs (contained in the volume "Reasonable Guide to the Most Atrocious Noise").