Rocket from the tombs
Rocket redux
Before the punk-rock groundswell of 1977, there were scattered rock uprisings where artists whose brains and ambitions were just too outsized to fit in with mid-'70s rock flailed recklessly and waited for the worm to turn. While the likes of Jefferson Airplane were commercial juggernauts, Cleveland harbored a few proto-punk bands, most notably Rocket from the Tombs, an arty hard-rock outfit fronted by a couple a rock journalists, David Thomas (then known as Crocus Behemoth) and Peter Laughner. The group existed for only a few years before splitting into two bands that would become marginally more successful--Pere Ubu and the Dead Boys. Nearly three decades after their demise, three original members of the band--Thomas, guitarist Cheetah Chrome, and bassist Craig Bell--reformed the groundbreaking ensemble, along with ex-Television guitarist Richard Lloyd (who produced this effort) and Ubu drummer Steve Mehlman. Recorded after a 2003 tour, Rocket Redux consists of songs from the old days performed in the spirit of the original cast. The likes of "Ain't it Fun," "Sonic Reducer" (both part of the Dead Boys repertoire) "30 Seconds Over Tokyo," and the volcanic "Final Solution" (the latter two, Pere Ubu classics) are still powerful statements of alienation. And while the gifted Laughner died in 1977, Thomas has no trouble carrying the additional load. Maybe this set reflects a perverse kind of nostalgia, but, hey, ain't it fun? --Steven Stolder
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