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5 Shows, 1 Box of Lost Tapes: How San Diego, California's Rocket From the Crypt Got 'Scream, Frankenstein, Scream!'
Masters from 1995 surfaced on OfferUp, got baked in a reptile egg incubator and became a vinyl-only album sold at just five shows.
Rocket From the Crypt found its new album on a resale app. In January, the San Diego, California punk band learned that a box of its 16-track, two-inch master reels from the 1995 sessions was for sale on OfferUp in Orange County, SPIN reported.
The result is Scream, Frankenstein, Scream!, and you can't stream it.
What was in the box
Accounts of the rescue differ. SPIN says friends and fans stepped in to recover the reels, and Times of San Diego says friends and fans bought them and turned them over to the band. Loudwire says a fan spotted the listing, and quotes frontman John "Speedo" Reis describing "purchasing them from various sellers." The tapes had been legally acquired through liquidation auctions, per Times of San Diego.
Loudwire reports they held the full session masters from Saturation Studio for the 1995 album Scream, Dracula, Scream! and the EP The State of Art is on Fire, plus singles and B-sides.
A handwritten, coffee-stained track sheet inside revealed they captured an early attempt at Scream, Dracula, Scream!, the band's major-label debut for Interscope, SPIN reported. That album produced "On a Rope," which entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 12.
Reis wasn't sure what he'd hear. "I was quite nervous of a very real possibility of uncovering nothing but banter and fart noises," he told Loudwire.
Baked in a reptile incubator
The reels needed rescue. Technicians restored them over several months, and a reptile egg incubator was used to "bake" them and counter sticky shed syndrome, Loudwire reported. On the other side, Reis found a faster version of the title track. "My happy face says it all," he said.
Reis called the new release "the maiden voyage of those songs in their original, feral form," per Times of San Diego. He also noted some songs date to when he was 14. He's 61 now.
Five shows, vinyl only
Here's the catch: Scream, Frankenstein, Scream! is vinyl-only, sold at five shows and not through retail or streaming, according to SPIN. Reis was blunt about it: "I'm broke and I gotta do what I can to get by."
The run hit Warsaw in Brooklyn on Oct. 15, Irving Plaza on Oct. 16 and Chicago's Metro on Oct. 17. The hometown stop, the band's annual Halloween show, landed Oct. 24 at House of Blues San Diego with Ceremony and Zeus Apollo opening.
Where to listen and follow
Scream, Frankenstein, Scream! is not on streaming services; the vinyl is sold only at the shows.
Sources
Loudwire — "'90s Punk Classic Gets New Life After Fan Finds Band's Masters on OfferUp"
Times of San Diego — "This year, Rocket From the Crypt's annual Halloween scream show comes with a special perk"
SPIN — "Rocket From The Crypt Revives 'Dracula'"
Wikipedia — "Rocket from the Crypt"