With John Reis (aka Speedo) busy with other projects, including Swami & the Bed of Nails and PLOSIVS most recently, Rocket from the Crypt shows have been somewhat sporadic since they reunited in 2013. They’ve now announced a new run of dates, for the occasion of the release of Scream, Frankenstein, Scream!, which a press release describes as “a collection of early configurations of songs that would eventually turn into the band’s seminal release Scream Dracula Scream.” Here’s more:
In January 2026, the band got word that a set of 16-track 2” master tapes from 1995 had surfaced on the potentially shady marketplace Offer Up in Orange County, California. Friends and fans sprang into action, rescuing the tapes and making sure they found their way back to the band. Once they had the reels in hand, they matched them to the handwritten track list tucked inside the box—a single coffee-stained sheet of lined paper. It quickly became clear that these recordings were an early attempt to document what would soon become Scream Dracula Scream, released by Interscope Records later that same year. More than 35 years after these performances were captured, the tapes have been painstakingly restored and brought back to life as Scream Frankenstein Scream.
The album will only be sold at the shows, which happen in NYC (Warsaw on October 15 and Irving Plaza on October 16 with Man or Astro-man?) Chicago (Metro on October 17 with The Get Up Kids), San Diego (House of Blues on October 24 with Ceremony and Zeus Apollo), and London (Electric Ballroom on November 7). You can get tickets for both NYC shows early on BrooklynVegan Presale starting today (7/29) at 2 PM ET. Use the presale password BVRFTC. Any remaining tickets go on sale to the general public on Thursday, July 30 at 1 PM.
The band plan to play lots of songs from the new collection at these shows. Speedo says, “We are gonna try, I guess. These songs are pushing 4 decades. Some of these songs I wrote when I was 14. I’m 61 now. It’s a big ask, but I’m broke, and I gotta do what I can to get by. My voice is a full 2 octaves lower than when I recorded this shit. I’ve seen the vitriol surrounding current-day performances by my peers such as Frankie Valli and David Lee Roth. I’ve seen that footage, and I honestly don’t think those guys sound that bad at all. I only hope I can sound as good as them.”
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT – SCREAM, FRANKENSTEIN, SCREAM! TRACKLIST
1. Born In 69
2. On A Rope
3. Young Livers
4. Drop Out
5. Used
6. Fat Lip
7. Suit City
8. Heater Hands
9. Misbeaten (.0)
10. Salt Future
11. Ciao! Patsy
