Rocket From the Crypt is bringing its annual Halloween scream show back to San Diego this year, but this time the band is handing out something fans never expected: a vinyl-only album pieced together from master tapes that vanished decades ago and turned up for sale online. The San Diego punk institution plays House of Blues San Diego on October 24, with the concert set for 7:30 p.m., and the show will double as the local stop on a short run supporting the new release, Scream, Frankenstein, Scream!
The story behind that album is almost stranger than the record itself. According to Times of San Diego, the band learned in January that its 16-track, two-inch master tapes from 1995 had been offered for sale, and friends and fans stepped in to buy them through liquidation auctions before handing them back to the band. As reported by BrooklynVegan, the tapes had specifically surfaced for sale on the online marketplace OfferUp in Orange County.
Once the tapes were back in hand, the band matched them to a handwritten track list and put them through a months-long restoration that enhanced the vocals and music while scrubbing out background hiss and other noise, per the Times of San Diego report. That work eventually yielded enough restored material for a full album, which the band has described as a time capsule showcasing Rocket From the Crypt at its musical peak. The band said the tapes were restored and brought back to life more than 35 years after the performances were captured, and the band has said the songs have never sounded as urgent or accurate.
What's Actually on the Record
Scream, Frankenstein, Scream! is being framed not as new music but as a compilation of previously recorded material, containing early studio takes cut during the sessions for the band's 1995 album Scream, Dracula, Scream! The 11-song tracklist, as published by BrooklynVegan, includes early versions of “Born in '69,” “On a Rope,” “Young Livers,” “Drop Out,” “Used,” “Fat Lip,” “Suit City,” “Heater Hands,” “Misbeaten (.0),” “Salt Future” and “Ciao! Patsy.” Reis has said the recordings capture the band's first versions of songs that later ended up on the finished album, and joked, per the Times of San Diego, that listeners can hear the band before it learned to use fork and spoon.
The album is being limited to a vinyl-only pressing and will be sold exclusively at the band's upcoming fall shows, meaning San Diego fans who want a copy will need to show up in person. That scarcity mirrors the band's history of doing things its own way; the original Scream, Dracula, Scream! marked Rocket From the Crypt's fourth studio album and its major-label debut on Interscope Records when it came out on October 10, 1995, a release that notably expanded the band's sound with horns and string arrangements, according to Wikipedia.
A Band That Built an International Following From San Diego
That original album also gave the band its biggest commercial moment overseas. The single “On a Rope” peaked at No. 12 on the Official UK Singles Chart, while Scream, Dracula, Scream! reached No. 40 on the UK Albums Chart, according to data from Official Charts. The Times of San Diego notes that “On a Rope” reached the United Kingdom's Top 20, part of a run that built the band a substantial European following.
Rocket From the Crypt is a San Diego band. Reis also played in the post-hardcore group Drive Like Jehu, which he co-founded in the early 1990s. The band also built a legendary reputation for its live shows, offering free admission to fans with Rocket From the Crypt tattoos, per Wikipedia.
Breakups, a Kids' Show Cameo, and a Return
Rocket From the Crypt disbanded in 2005. The band unexpectedly reunited in 2011 to perform on the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!, where Reis made recurring appearances as “The Swami,” and fully reunited in 2013, according to WXPN.
Since then, Reis has remained a fixture of San Diego's music scene, founding Swami Records in 1999 and fronting other bands, per Wikipedia's entry on the musician. Reis is 61 and, according to the Times of San Diego, has said some of the songs on the new album are nearly four decades old, with a few written when he was just 14.
The band's history also carries a heavier note. Reis lost Rick Froberg.
The Fall Run and the San Diego Show
The House of Blues stop is one of five shows the band is playing in support of the new release. The tour includes stops at Warsaw in Brooklyn on October 15, Irving Plaza in Manhattan on October 16, Metro Chicago on October 17, and Electric Ballroom in London on November 7, with the San Diego show landing on October 24 as the Halloween-season finale, per the Times of San Diego. Reis has said the band will perform at select concert destinations and plans to focus heavily on songs from Scream, Frankenstein, Scream! during the run.
In San Diego, the band will be joined by Ceremony, a Northern California hardcore punk band, and Zeus Apollo, an Austin, Texas-based rock group influenced by Drive Like Jehu, as opening acts. Tickets for the House of Blues San Diego show are priced at $86. The Gaslamp Quarter venue has an overall capacity of 1,500 guests with a 1,100-capacity main Music Hall, according to House of Blues San Diego.
