Having formed as far back as 1979 gives the enigmatically named 45 Grave a legitimate claim to being one of the earliest, if not the earliest, acts on the LA Deathrock scene. Sleep in Safety represents their only full-length studio release although proceeded by the Black Cross single back in 1981.
Sleep in Safety and its accompanying EP Phantoms were substantially slower than the band’s other material, rendering them much closer to what might be considered “Goth” than the rest of their much punkier catalogue.
The Phantoms (AKA:45 Grave) EP
Taking their visual cues from Italian zombie flicks, 45 Grave always took a humorous & campy approach to their take on horror rock. While this may have left the more po-faced members of the Goth community unable to take them seriously, it is unlikely that the band would have ever intended otherwise as evidenced by the inclusions of “Riboflavin Flavored, Non-Carbonated, Poly-Unsaturated Blood” and “Surf Bat”.
Although the band would break up shortly after recording Sleep in Safety, they have since reformed, albeit with vocalist Dinah Cancer as the sole remaining member from the original line up.
Track listing
1. Insurance From God
2. Evil
3. Partytime
4. Dream Hits II
5. Slice O' Life
6. 45 Grave
7. Phantoms
8. Violent World
9. Bad Love
10. Surf Bat
11. Procession
The CD re-release has the track listing in a slightly different order from the original LP and includes "Riboflavin" a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" and the single version of "Partytime".
Line Up
Dinah Cancer (lead vocals), Paul Cutler (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Paul Roessler (keyboards, vocals), Rob Graves (bass, vocals), Don Bolles (drums, vocals)
After such a brilliant single the album struck me as a real half-arsed effort.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to put up a Youtube vid of Phantoms, but all I could find was this awful live version with a sound quality approximating that of mud.
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