Psychobilly pioneers the Cramps are about to deliver three basic punk rock data again to vinyl. Reissues are forthcoming for 1980’s Songs the Lord Taught Us, 1981’s Psychedelic Jungle, and the 1984 compilation Unhealthy Music For Unhealthy Folks.
Order The Cramps’ early albums on normal and colour vinyl now.
The Cramps reissues are launching within the wake of Wednesday, the TV sequence that sparked a Cramps revival in 2022, returning to Netflix for its second season. “Goo Goo Muck” from Psychedelic Jungle soundtracked a well-liked dance sequence by sequence star Jenna Ortega within the first season, resulting in an exponential improve in weekly streams of “Goo Goo Muck” (from 2,500 to over 134,000) and launching the observe to Billboard’s Digital Tune Gross sales chart for the primary time.
Produced by Large Star’s Alex Chilton, Songs The Lord Taught Us is the Cramps’ cult basic debut. In the identical manner that everybody who purchased the Velvet Underground’s debut supposedly began a band, the haunted, feral old-school rock ‘n’ roll of Songs The Lord Taught Us by no means made the Cramps superstars of their second, nevertheless it stands as a foundational affect for a whole lot of subsequent acts. “They made sexy music for people who didn’t buy mainstream sex appeal, peering back at ’50s rockabilly and R&B through a big, dirty punk magnifying glass,” wrote Pitchfork’s Anna Gaca in a 2020 retrospective assessment revealed simply in time for Halloween.
For Psychedelic Jungle, the group’s sophomore LP, the Cramps themselves took over manufacturing duties and stored serving up uncooked and ragged rock ‘n’ roll seasoned with B-movie horror antics. As Ned Raggett put it at All Music Information, on this second platter of originals and expertly chosen covers, “the same atmosphere of swampy, trashy, rockabilly-into-voodoo ramalama reigns supreme.”
Although launched in 1984, Unhealthy Music For Unhealthy Folks compiles 11 tracks from the years earlier than the Cramps launched their first album. The Poison Ivy-produced comp contains highlights like “New Kind of Kick,” later coated by the Jesus And Mary Chain, and the B-side “Drug Train,” in addition to an alternate mixture of “Goo Goo Muck” and “Human Fly” from the band’s revered debut EP Gravest Hits.
Store The Cramps’ music on vinyl now.
