Blood simple

>> The rock 'n' roll mythology of Rocket From the Crypt

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Rising triumphant from the ashes of major-label burn-up, a weak previous album and drummer changeover (welcome aboard, Ruby Mars), San Diego's Rocket From the Crypt have proven, with their new disc Group Sounds, that they are a ferocious force of nature--one of the last bands in rock 'n' roll to trade in archetypes, not stereotypes. It's in their bones and blood, as frontman Speedo confirms.



Mirror: As much as Group Sounds is a return to the sound of older Rocket records like Circa: Now, I hear you guys experimenting with elements from outside the rock sphere entirely--specifically on "Venom, Venom," with its Middle Eastern flavour. What can you tell me about the Ethiopiques compilations that inspired it? And where the hell can I get this stuff?

Speedo: You can get it anywhere, even Virgin and Tower megastores. It's on the Buddha Musique label, from France. They're up to volume 9 now, and I think that there will be 10 in the series. Most of it was recorded between '69 and '74. It's just amazing how--aw, you just gotta check 'em out. Nothing I say can do them justice. It's really exciting music and, to me, music that never existed before. It's not like hearing another punk band or soul band that does the form really well. Some of this stuff is so completely alien to me in the way it sounds, the way punk was when I first heard it. Who are these people making this? Are they insane? What is making them do this? It's mindblowing.

M: Maybe it's that Middle Eastern tonal scale which, to Western ears, is both alluring and menacing.

S: Maybe it's a cliché, but there is something kinda sinister about the way it sounds. Maybe that's why I'm drawn to it--something mysterious that just shines and draws you to it, like a bug lamp. If you like Afrobeat and Arabic pop, it's a combination of both. Some of the comps are more jazz, some are more soul, but it's all infused with this heavy Middle Eastern influence that sounds so crazy. The recordings are really primal and the musicians are amazing.

Sing for the King

M: Two places that have been important to you guys are Memphis, where you recorded part of Group Sounds, and Tijuana, where you kinda got your start. Now, maybe I'm just a dumb East Coast snowbird, but just the names seem to resonate with this rock 'n' roll mythology. Having had the chance to go to these places and actually formulate rock 'n' roll there, do they live up to that?

S: Well, obviously, Memphis does. Although it's less about what's there than what is left, its contributions to not only rock 'n' roll but to blues, soul and country are beyond profound. It is Mecca for rock 'n' roll music. So going there was pretty cool, because we're a band that really reveres that history. Maybe we romanticize it a bit too much. But Memphis was awesome. I was able to record some vocal tracks at Graceland, I sang the lyrics to "Ghost Shark" at the Eternal Flame, where Elvis is buried. I sang to his grave, which was really fucking cool. Kinda cheesy but real fun at the same time. Walking the same streets that Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs--just everybody--once did. This is where it happened. Eating the same food they ate, breathing the same air, letting the environment seep into our bones and slow us down to a crawl. So Memphis definitely lives up.

Knife fights and shark attacks

M: Tijuana's less obvious--

S: There is a spirit there, but it's more a spirit of revolution. It's where we started, so we're obviously influenced by the politics there, the organizations we belonged to when we started. Our roots are there. It's one of those places that has a lot of beauty, but it is a border town. It's the most-travelled border in the world, and the one with the widest difference, economically, between the two sides. It's kind of a shock that way, but you don't see that after a while. But, yeah, it's an excitingly dangerous place. It's where a lot of our knife-fighting skills were honed.

M: Since the "On a Rope" video, through the scorpion on Scream, Dracula, Scream, the cobra on Group Sounds and the lyrics about rats, sharks and--my favourite--the monkey belt-tied to a tree, you've boldly used animals as metaphorical symbols. These go deep, deeper than language or religion. What to you think?

S: They're really obvious to me. Animals are beautiful, they're fun to sing about and they lend themselves to so much imagery. I'll probably continue screaming about animals for the rest of my life. There's something about animals that we don't understand, that we fear because we don't understand them. I wouldn't say it's even rock 'n' roll--it's bigger than that. It relates to everybody. It's something that's programmed into everybody's DNA, whereas rock 'n' roll isn't.

With the International Noise Conspiracy and the Explosion at Cabaret on Tuesday, April 17, 9pm, $13