Pledging to never play a venue with a stage, singer/guitarist John Reis formed San Diego’s Rocket from the Crypt in the summer of 1990 after becoming disillusioned with the hardcore punk band he was in called Pitchfork. Joining with then-current Rocketeers bassist Petey X and guitarist N.D, in addition to departed drummer Sean and backing vocalist Elaina, Reis and company released Paint As A Fragrance in 1991.
Rocket from the Crypt. 1988. The story is a common one. The son of a Portuguese fisherman rediscovers punk rock and rock & roll and moves to Tijuana in order to find musicians who’s instincts haven’t been replaced by the sedate notion of what it takes to be successful in the world of professional music making.
Rocket from the Crypt. 2001. “Rock n roll’s ambassadors of goodwill”, “…the best live band in the world”, “…the most important band since the Stones”, “the top of today’s punk hierarchy”, “…the hardest working group in America”, “…a band who’s profound stylistic and musical influence on today’s pop culture is inescapable”, “The most important American band since CCR”, “the last of the Mohicans”…Ladies and gentlemen, Group Sounds. Rocket from the Crypt’s ninth full-length album. 13 blasts of the most explosive and dense rock & roll ever committed to tape. The new “Wall of Sound” is erected only to be kicked over. Bricks continuously toppling over without mercy. Passionately out of control and adventurously violent.
