CLEVELAND ROCKS!!!: Proto-Punk and Art Rock In the Land of Drew Carey - Part II
Rocket from the Tombs: The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs
Alright, so this isn't really an album, and it wasn't released until decades after the band went kaput, but they never actually released anything and it would be impossible to do this without looking at Rocket from the Tombs. Half the band went on to form Pere Ubu for god's sake. As far as I can tell it's just a collection of random demos and live recordings, so it'd be impossible to review it as an album, so I guess I'll just have to treat it as a collection of songs.
Sounds like good-but-not-great proto-punk. Like The Stooges' little brothers. It's not something that I've never heard before, but it
is gloriously raw. It's also kinda fun to hear David Thomas singing in a much more raw style than he would in Pere Ubu. I could certainly see how this band would have been influential in Cleveland. Of course, used toilet paper could probably be influential in Cleveland. F
uck Ohio.
There's not a whole lot to say about this. I mean it's pretty cool Stooges worship, but it's not a revelation, and it's not much more than raw proto-punk so it's not like I have to explain it to you. If you're an Ubu fan then I'd recommend this just for the history lesson, but for anyone else it's not mandatory, although "Sonic Reducer" is just the bee knees.
Oh, and is it just me, or does this sound like The Damned's "New Rose"? I'm pretty sure this was made before the Damned even existed, but I have no idea how The Damned would have even heard this. Is there another earlier song that both those bands copied or something?
Edit: Never mind. I just looked and apparently it's a Velvet Underground cover. So I guess The Damned "borrowed" it.