Customer Reviews

Group Sounds

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A blazing hot plate collection of 30 min's of pure rock delight! Partially recorded in Memphis, Tn, this musical bonanza features such top-ten hits as "Straight American Slave", "White Belt" and the soon-to-be-classic "Return of the Liar"! A modern classic! No music fan's library is complete without it! Do yourself a favor, buy it and buckle up! The break neck booty shakin' doesn't let up until you are battered and dizzy on the dance floor! Highest possible reccomendation! 5 stars! Enter the world of ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT and NEVER look back! HAPPY LISTENER!

Yet another example of a band that should be better known than they are. I found out about these guys when I read a little blurb in Blender about "Live From Camp X-Ray". RFTC's "Group Sounds" is a flat-out, non-stop, straight forward, kick you-in-the-teeth killer rock record. The 13 tunes scream by in about 35 minutes. A lot of the tunes are two minutes or under but that's mostly due to the fact that there are really no solos to speak of. Their use of horns to accent the tunes is done to perfection.

RFTC's sound is a mix of punk and rock with tremendous melody. The horns really set them apart from a lot of other bands in that category. Speedo's vocals have a slightly rough edge, but not unbearably so. The lyrics are very interesting, ex 'Buffalo soldier break dance with knives stuck in your back. Holy Water pours out of the stretch marks from our past', from "Straight American Slave". Not sure what it means but it sure sounds cool when he sings it.

Not all the songs are blistering rockers; "Dead Seeds" slows it down a little as does "Ghost Shark". You also get your fill of Na Na's and Oh-Oh-Oh's. Definitely give these guys a listen.

If you're going to be in the Boston area on 3/22/03 head on over to the Middle East in Cambridge and check out RFTC live.

Flat out one of the best albums I've heard in 2001. The title says it all. A group so tight that they keep sending the listener to the next level track for track. I am nearly wordless to express the joy that this album ilicits. Remembering that punk rock isn't a museum, they gleefully pillage all and spit out the essence of all that is vital. Songs like Carne Voodoo, Venom Venom, & Ghost Shark let out for exciting territory. Straight American Slave, White Belt, & Dead Seeds recast the band's trascendent moments in exciting new forms.Clearly the band could give a damn about keeping up with current trends. This is what makes them timeless. Namecheck til you pass out it comes down to one thing. They have torn a page from the book of music and it is rock! A pure moment. There is no song that doesn't add to the overall effect, there is no member that doesn't do his part. Simply a classic!

Everyone's already said enough, I'll just add that RFTC are the best LIVE band around as well. Go see em whenever you can. They flat out ROCK!

This is IT. This is rock n roll at its fiery, explosive, utmost potential. Rocket from the Crypt's GROUP SOUNDS is a wreckingball to the ribcage, a sledgehammer to the senses. This is kicking down the door at a firebreathers' convention. This is what's crackling though the air while the natives walk over hot coals. This is a striped cobra striking at you at the foot of an erupting volcano. "Venom Venom" is an attack so firece, it bites twice. "White Belt" will give you blisters on body parts you never knew you had. Rumor has it, all six band members injected rocket fuel in their veins to create the frenetic "Spitting." "Heart of a Rat" will give little Suzy strange, new, exciting feelings. "Carne Voodoo" is what the boys room smokers are singing at the top of their lungs. "Ghost Shark" slowly brings you out the other side of the wringer, where you're left gasping for air in a cloudy haze with dancing shoes soddered to your ankles. Normally an album as good as GROUP SOUNDS would make a legend, but RFTC reached that plateau a long time ago.

The first seconds of "Group Sounds" explode with a guitar wailing and gritting it's teeth before exploding into a riff lifted from The Music Machine's "Everything Is Everything," and pummel that sucker into the ground in less than two minutes, and call it "Straight American Slave." In other words, RFTC aren't effing around anymore. "Group Sounds" is their hardest, tightest, most consistent work ever, building on the foundation brought to frutition on their three (!) 1995 records, "Scream Dracula Scream," "Hot Charity," and "The State Of Art Is On Fire,"; tough-as-nails punk rock topped with blaring horns and anthemic vocals. In fact, one of the more melodic tracks is given the title "Out Of Control," if that's any indication, the rest of these songs are completely insane. My favorites are the mid-tempo (by RFTC standards) snarler, "Return Of The Liar," the Turbonegro-esque "Savoir Faire," and "S.O.S.," a great rocker in the "Burnt Alive" vein. There isn't a really a bad song here, though, all thirteen tracks are pure, adrenalized, middle-finger rock and roll. Amen.

I'll admit the only other RFTC album I have heard is 'Scream , Dracula , Scream' and I've listened constantly for the last 4 months . I love that album so i got this . They have not changed their sound one little bit since 'Scream , Dracula , Scream'. If you are new to RFTC please let me kill the common misconception that all their tracks sound like 'on a rope'. Most sound totally different . This album has a really worthy collection of tracks . My favourites being tracks 3,5,9 and 13 but I wouldn't skip a single track . 5 Stars no second thought .