Rocket From The Crypt - Return To Monkey Island 7" - Picture Disc

Self Released (2017)

Towards the end of last year the greatest band on the planet, Rocket From The Crypt, went on the UK tour.  They brought with them this two song 7" that was only available at those shows.  So far, that has held true.  This record hasn't been sold anywhere else and has become one of the harder to find releases in the Rocket catalog.  For whatever reason I figured they'd have some of these leftover and would sell them stateside, but that hasn't been the case yet.  Perhaps it's because of less Rocket shows with Hot Snakes taking the spotlight currently, but I do hope these are released to some more folks that desperately want them.

I'm lucky.  I had a friend pick me up a copy at one of the UK shows.  So, I'll take this opportunity to say thank you, and I highly encourage everyone to buy as many records from Drunken Sailor as possible.  Though that's a cheap plug, I do mean it and would say that even if the juice man hadn't picked this up for me.

On this 7" we have two brand spanking new Rocket FromThe Crypt songs.  The first is "Waiting for the Shoe to Fall."  It starts off with a simple guitar riff that reminds me a little bit of the Sultans, but the song just grows from there.  The hook on this thing is unreal.  I don't think the Speedo John gets nearly enough credit for how god damn catchy his songs can be.  The punk rock bonafides can never be questioned, but the dude can write a hook.  Once the chorus kicks in, the horns swell and stay involved for the duration of the song, elevating everything.  If this is a taste of what we could hear on a future rocket album, sign me up.

On the B side we have "Too Dangerous."  This one has some guitar work that at first, makes me thing about one of the shorter, more straightforward Night Marchers songs.  But like on the A side, once the horns hit and the chorus revs up, it is unmistakably Rocket From The Crypt.  Like "Waiting For The Shoe To Fall," "Too Dangerous" is a short powerful blast of Rocket energy in the verse and the sort of chorus that I can just imagine myself jumping up and down to surrounded by my Swami family.  If it's not obvious, I love both of these. 

It still feels surreal to have new Rocket From The Crypt songs.  Greedily I just wish we had more.  I love Hot Snakes and could not possible be more thrilled that they have a new record and are touring.  But if I'm being honest, Rocket From The Crypt is my favorite band in the whole wide world.  Once this batch of Hot Snakes shows wrap up, I really hope Rocket gets down to the task of a new album.  I can't think of anything more exciting than a possibility of a dozen or so new songs by the mighty RFTC.