Sometimes, obscure history is important enough to study and can even provide entertainment. Such is the case with the early '70s Cleveland aggregation known as Rocket from the Tombs. Seemingly out of nowhere in the Midwest, they were able to create their own little punk community even before any such New York or London band was on any writer's radar. Like the original Modern Lovers, their material never came out while they were together--a few bootlegs and a limited-edition album were their only recorded legacy. Singer David Thomas and guitarist Peter Laughner would later form Pere Ubu, while guitarist Gene O'Connor (Cheetah Chrome) and drummer Johnny Madansky (Johnny Blitz) would form the Dead Boys, with each of these bands taking Rocket songs with them. In addition, everyone from Mission of Burma to Guns n' Roses to Wilco would cover their songs. Though the CD lacks Laughner's inspirational speeches, it contains the Rocket's loft tapes and live shows in their ragged glory. On some songs Rocket wear their influences (the Velvets on "Foggy Notion" and the Stooges on "Raw Power" and "Search & Destroy") on their sleeves; on others they explore teen angst in savage, seething workouts like "So Co ld," "What Love Is," "Sonic Reducer" (later a Dead Boys staple), and "Final Solution" (later an Ubu staple). In all, a wonderful piece of garage-land, pre-punk history with matching audio. --Jason Gross
Rocket from the Tombs
The Day the Earth Met Rocket from the Tombs
[Smog Veil; 2002]
Rating: 7.4
Anyone up on their history of punk rock has heard of them, but relatively few have actually heard the music they made. And this is one of the main reasons Rocket from the Tombs is one of the most mythologized bands ever. Active for less than a year-- from winter 1974 to late summer '75-- RFTT released only one single during its brief lifespan, but its legacy was magnified by the two bands that sprung from its ashes: the scuzzy Dead Boys and arty, Beefheartian new wavers Pere Ubu.
Ubu's Dave Thomas (who performed under the name Crocus Behemoth) started the band, later adding future Dead Boys Gene O'Connor (aka Cheetah Chrome) and John Madansky (aka Johnny Blitz). But the man most responsible for the band's mythic stature is Peter Laughner, a hard-living, Lou Reed-worshipping music journalist who wrote for the Lester Bangs-edited Creem magazine. He was also a promising songwriter (over the years his songs have been covered by Mission of Burma and Guns n' Roses, among many others) and a searing guitarist of Tom Verlaine-caliber. In fact, he was being groomed to replace Richard Lloyd in Television when he died of pancreatitis in 1977; years of constant drug abuse had simply worn out his body. And we all know what an untimely death means for an artist mythic stature, and as Laugher's rep grew so did that of RFTT. Of course, it didn't hurt that Pere Ubu released a series of excellent albums in the late seventies and early eighties.
A lot of the discussion surrounding RFTT focuses on their milieu. I wasn't there, so I can't say I have firsthand knowledge, but my impressions, based on what I've read and heard, is that Cleveland in 1974 was an industrial wasteland and a cultural desert, all mangled metal and shattered glass sprawled upon the rusty shores of a lake that was so polluted it periodically caught fire. Just ask anyone who was there at the time-- they're almost proud of how shitty it was. And Rocket from the Tombs perfectly embodied the bleakness of the city. Perhaps no other rock band has embodied (and thus, made commented upon) its surroundings better. It's something more akin to early 90s gansta rap than anything seen in rock.
Approaching the band from this viewpoint only deepens their myth. But what about the actual music? Does it measure up? Is RFTT actually worth listening to? Or are they just a band to be discussed, name dropped, and filed away?
This 19-song comp, The Day the Earth Met the Rocket from the Tombs, seeks to answer those questions by offering "a tantalizing glimpse at one of the greatest albums never recorded," as the back cover puts it. Nine of the songs are from home recorded demos, while the remaining ten are from two live dates; the sound quality, while nowhere near spectacular, is consistent and listenable.
The easiest way to describe RFTT's proto-punk is as a combination of the Stooges and Alice Cooper, with hints of Sabbath, the Velvet Underground, the Troggs, and Beefheart. Altogether it's a jarring concoction. Lyrically, they were easily the most nihilistic American band since the Stooges. But RFTT's music is even more arresting than Iggy & Co.'s in the sense that one can imagine doing something else while listening to it-- say, exercising or driving. But with RFTT, all you feel like doing is huddling up in the corner, or turning it off. These are the only options this music offers.
This comp fittingly begins with a partial cover of the Stooges' "Raw Power" and ends with "Search and Destroy." In between, the band covers "Satisfaction" (almost beyond recognition) and the unreleased-at-the-time Velvet Underground song "Foggy Notion." All of which have their charms, but far better are the RFTT originals, many of which later wound up on Pere Ubu or Dead Boys albums (or both). There are nascent versions of the classics "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" and "Sonic Reducer" bearing witness to a great idiosyncratic songwriter (Thomas) coming into his own.
But the highlight of the album is Laughner's oft-covered "Amphetamine" (anyone familiar with Wilco's "Misunderstood" will immediately recognize the lyrics, which were respectfully lifted from this track nearly verbatim). This is the closest one can hope for in terms of a definitive recording of this mournful, yet unrelenting ballad. Yes, a ballad. These aren't all heavy punk songs. In fact, in this one song, you can almost hear the entire career of Paul Westerberg being born.
But back to my earlier question: does the band's music live up to the lofty myth surrounding it? One might as well ask if unrealized potential can substitute for actually delivering the goods. The answer, friends, is no.
Had personality conflicts not ripped the band apart before it could capitalize on its members' talents, Rocket from the Tombs might have recorded a groundbreaking album. But they didn't. And so, all that's left are these fragments, left over from a by-gone era, and they can either be mourned over for what they're not, or enjoyed for what they are. I'll choose the latter.
-Jason Nickey, February 27th, 2002
Review by Richie Unterberger
Rocket From the Tombs, the Cleveland band that featured a pre-Pere Ubu David Thomas and future members of the Dead Boys, has been hailed by numerous serious rock critics as overlooked punk and new wave forefathers. They never entered a recording studio, however, and for the most part their scant body of demos and live tapes have been heard only by serious collectors, though some were available on the 1990 album Life Stinks (itself hard to find now). The Day the Earth Met the Rocket From the Tombs does not issue every tape known to exist by the group, and is not perfect from the standpoints of fidelity and performance. The 74-minute disc does, however, finally make a reasonably comprehensive document of their work widely available for the first time. The first half is devoted to a February 1975 loft rehearsal, and though the sound is on the muddy side, the performances raw, and the songs on which David Thomas sings lead afflicted by some indistinct vocals, it's a quite powerful fusion of hard rock, metal, and art rock that in retrospect can be seen to contain some seeds of American punk. Particularly edgy are an early version of "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (redone to famous effect by Pere Ubu) and the nearly out-of-control "Life Stinks," though the standout number is the unexpectedly melodic, lyrically desperate "Ain't It Fun." The next seven songs, from one of their final shows in July 1975, boast better (though not outstanding) fidelity, and some of their most innovative compositions ("Final Solution" and "Sonic Reducer"), as well as the arcane Velvet Underground cover "Foggy Notion" (at that time impossible to find even on bootleg). Thomas doesn't sing lead on any of the July 1975 numbers but does on all three of the final selections, taken from a May 1975 show, including the future Dead Boys staple "Down in Flames" (with a downright avant-garde instrumental section) and a cover of "Search & Destroy." There are shortcomings to Rocket From the Tombs: some of the songs leaned too heavily on heavy metal and simple outrage, and for all the notoriety attached to the band because of the Pere Ubu and Dead Boys connections, their best moments were actually the more sensitive reflections on troubled youth by Peter Laughner. And there are some imperfections to the package in that it doesn't include all the known Rocket From the Tombs tapes, the excerpts seemingly selected so as not to repeat any song twice (it's also unfortunate that the loft cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" fades out almost as soon as it starts). Yet, in all, this is a release of considerable historical importance and definite musical worth, enhanced by lengthy and knowledgeable liner notes.
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