45 Grave – Sleep in Safety LP

Description

**Ltd Purple Vinyl with Black Streaks!

IfChristian Deathtrumped45 Gravewhen it came to releasing a debut album —Only Theatre of Painhaving surfaced a little while earlier — then there’s no question thatSleep in Safetyis easily the equal, if not better than the other band’s initial effort. It doesn’t hurt at all thatCanceris a much better singer than the chronically groaningRozz Williams, for one thing, while the clear sense of humor45 Gravenever denied ensured that the band never entered the realms of relentlessly ridiculous self-parody. How could they, given how entertainingly off they already were — thus songs like “Riboflavin,” in praise of the nutritious forms of blood the healthy vampire needs. Fusing everyone’s varying punk/trash/art backgrounds into a goth rock overlay and then never letting themselves be suckered into actually going and digging up bodies, the members recruitedCraig Leonfor effective production work and the well-recordedSleep in Safetyscored underground hit after hit. There’s even a surf instrumental, and when will anyone see most modern black-clad types ever trying that move? There’s no question that the band’s legendary “Partytime” is the high point, a stop-start, quiet/loud horror of a goth landmark that letsCancersneak in a bit of pretty creepiness before everyone fires up into a classic rock chug with a great shout-along chorus thatJoan Jettwould be proud of. What really works best is how the music is the most truly dark part of the band,Graves‘ bass playing andCutler‘s post-Bansheesguitar parts hitting all the right notes. In turn,Cancerisn’t so much a dark priestess of gloom as a commanding figure who has to be listened to. The hilarious part of the band comes to the fore from the start, thanks to the introductory message about the creators of the album being skilled insurance agents. -All Music Guide