Rocket 455

Rocket 455, Detroit's great white hope of the '90s, were throwing down MC5-style dual guitar rave-ups when the members of the Hellacopters were still making music about eating babies and burning churches. With a seemingly sporadic series of lo-fi singles and a single ten-inch released over the better part of the decade, the band became a club favourite in their hometown and throughout the Midwest. Maybe they didn't tour enough and/or maybe they just didn't give a fuck, but they never quite became an international "name group," as they rightfully should have. None of that really matters now, though, because all their driving Stooges/MC5/ Flamin Groovies-influenced roar is now all available in one place on this supra-solid compilation CD. Several of the early four-track recordings feature current Demolition Doll Rod Dan Kroha on guitar, and singer Mark Walz does a nasty duet with Detroit Cobra Rachael Nagy on "Motor Oil." The whole CD conjures up memories of nights at Detroit bar the Old Miami, with guitarist Jeff Meier being drunkenly whipped by singer Walz with a mike chord as he laid down some wicked solos. Hot tracks include the opener, "Bum Ticker," the freaky "Gleason Rocket," the slightly higher-fi "Cross-Eyed" and the Flamin' Groovies cover "Dog Meat." Cool packaging, detailed liner notes and the complete recorded output of this now defunct Detroit institution all makes for a fitting documentation of how bad-ass of a band these guys really were.