After Spin and Request Magazines used some of my photos and some stuff I wrote about San Diego in 1993, I talked to someone at Rolling Stone about writing some articles. The first thing I wrote was naturally on Rocket From The Crypt. This was written in early 1994, and was promptly rejected by Rolling Stone. So much for that idea.

If you were in a band who went by funny names and wore nifty matching outfits on stage what would you be called? It would have to be cool... San Diego punksters Rocket From The Crypt borrowed a name from the late 60's band Rocket From The Tombs (luckily, not too many people grabbed onto that phenomenon) and never looked back.

Band members Speedo (guitar and vocals), Atom (drums), N.D. (guitar), Apollo 9 (saxophone--yes, saxophone!), and Petey X (bass) produced two records on indie label Cargo Records, and numerous seven-inch vinyl offerings (including singles on Sub-Pop, Sympathy for the Record Industry, and Merge) before signing a deal with Interscope Records earlier this year. The first album, Paint As A Fragrance, is wondrous bursts of riff-heavy guitar with simple, captivating lyrics: "School ain't shit, I read it in a book." The second album, titled Circa, Now!, adds, in another journalist's words, "non-irritating saxophone," and a bit more of a pop feel to those riffs to present the punk album for people who hate punk. With catchy power riffs, words you'll find yourself singing along to, and a little bit of attitude, they can't go wrong. They haven't yet, considering the band's whole premise at the start was to see how far they could take the punk rock-star thing. They've made it pretty far, and they're not stoppin' anytime soon.

Since signing with Interscope, they've toured the country, playing with Superchunk, Clawhammer, and Fluf, and plan to record an album later this year. In the meantime, they're relaxing, taking a break from it all. After all, punk rock is serious business.