The Cramps’ Weekend on Mars: A Kitschy Unhinged Gothic Masterpiece

The Cramps paved the way for bands like the Misfits, Black Flag, Rob Zombie and other goth punk/rock. Their unhinged rockabilly goth rock, coined “psychobilly'” was both unapologetically kitschy and chaotically punk. I love the Cramps. Their raw energy is the embodiment of punk and their twisted dark bend to rockabilly is in line with their horror vibe. Now, we have an early studio experiment from 1977. Gravest Gravy was supposed to be released roughly 40 years ago, but the band was cleaning up their sound and this rough and ready collection didn’t fit. Along came Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye to help bring it to light. So, now we have this lost Cramps gem. There are some covers and deeper tracks on this record, which people will recognise. There is also a studio outtake where Lux Interior, singer Erick Purkhiser, works himself into a frenzy slamming doors and saying to a horrified tech “Nobody fucking stops a take of the Cramps in the fucking studio!” Raw, unhinged and powerful this record shows the band in its earliest form. Let’s take a closer look at my favourite track Weekend on Mars.

You have that classic 50s rockabilly vibe with Link Wray style guitar backed by some snapping snare and deep bass. This arrangement may be simple and stripped back, but it has a visceral power that all good punk does. The guitar from Poison Ivy, Kristy Wallace, rips and tears a hole through the track. This is no frills straight up rock to its core. You can feel it in your soul as its raw power takes over. You can feel it taking one take as the band just winds up and goes. Speaking of winding up and unleashing a chaotic tornado…we need to get to Lux.

Lux’s vocal is both a kitschy throwback and possessed harbinger of evil. He has all the vocal cues of your 50s greaser wearing a leather jacket and running a comb through his hair. But psychobilly music isn’s quite as neat. This is more like the Fonz after being bitten by a zombie in Resident Evil. He starts with is Elvis like vocal crooning, but will rapidly yell “Let’s go go go” and descend into a possessed whirlwind…like someone dancing with rattlesnakes and speaking in tongues. His ability to embrace the 50s vibe, but twist it and turn it into something totally new, frightening and enticing is the core of the band.

The Cramps are underrated for their impact on music and their talent. They are truly themselves and express such raw emotion on this record that it still blows me away. It is unbelievable that their sound can remain timeless after all this time and continue to floor me. Listening to this record is a must for Cramps fans and lovers of music in general.

Listen to Weekend on Mars