The Cramps' lost 1977 album, Gravest Gravy, is finally being released, the product of a years-long effort led by Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye in coordination with Cramps co-founder Poison Ivy.
The band recorded the album in 1977 and once planned to release it in 2008 as a kind of farewell, but the project went back on the shelf after the death of lead singer Lux Interior. The reels sat untouched in a Southern California garage for close to two decades before producer Larry Hardy pushed to get them out and finish the record.
Rollins, who handled quality control on the surviving tapes, said the magnetic tape needed little more than baking and a transfer to be usable. "The tapes held up," he said, describing the find as remarkable this far removed from the band's original run.
Rollins described the album's sound as classic rock and roll built around Lux Interior's charisma, drummer Nick Knox's steady timekeeping, and the interplay of Poison Ivy's clean guitar tone against Bryan Gregory's fuzzed-out playing, all without a bass player. He said the record captures the fun the band brought to its live shows, calling the songs a break from anything serious.
Rollins, MacKaye and the rest of the team overseeing the Cramps' archive are already working on a second archival release, planned for next year's Record Store Day. Gravest Gravy is out now, feeding renewed interest in the band's catalog and the wider psychobilly corner of rock.
The facts
- Gravest Gravy recorded in 1977, shelved after Lux Interior's death
- Reels sat in a Southern California garage for nearly two decades
- Produced by Larry Hardy, with Henry Rollins handling audio quality control
- A second archival Cramps release is planned for next year's Record Store Day
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