Two Punk Icons Rescue Lost Cramps | Public Record

Melding deranged “psychobilly” rhythms and out-there garage rock and blues, no band has ever sounded as dangerous as The Cramps. And now, long lost recordings of the band in their primordial early days are set to be released, thanks to a surprising collection of punk rock luminaries.

In 1977, The Cramps recorded their first two singles with Alex Chilton, lead singer of The Box Tops and power pop pioneers Big Star. They released these singles via their own label, Vengeance.

But it was only recently that two punk icons,Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye, discovered a set of Chilton-produced sessions that had never seen the light of day. Working with Cramps guitarist Poison Ivy, who has overseen the band’s legacy following the passing of co-leader Lux Interior in 2009, Rollins and McKaye worked at Inner Ear Studios in DC, cleaning up the audio.

On August 21st, these never-before-heard sessions will be released as Gravest Gravy, on The Cramps’ re-ignited label Vengeance, in conjunction with In the Red Records. And that’s not all—Ivy and The Cramps have launched a full merch line through our sponsors, Hello Merch. And unlike much of the available Cramps merch, this is all official and approved by Ivy herself.

Head over to Hello Merch to explore the new Cramps collection and pre-order your copy of Gravest Gravy—and check out the new video for “TV Set,” one of the 11 songs featured on the album.