On the Shelf: Swami John Reis

In retrospect, I likely don’t rate Rocket from the Crypt as high as I should. sure 

I played the heck out of Scream Dracula Scream, but come to think of it, I played a lot of the RFTC and All Systems Go records too. Somehow, as Indie Rock evolved into a serious Pitchfork rock critic concern in the 00s, Rocket might not have been the type of group that got mass attention. John Reis is sort of an opposite coast version of Jon Spencer. He does what he wants regardless of prevailing styles or trends, even if it means a different band name or record label. 

It means I lost track of him as he largely focused on Hot Snakes, the Sultans and the Night Marchers instead of Rocket. Up until 2015 when he collaborated with garage punks the Blind Shake for Modern Surf Classics- the kind of album that does what it says on the packaging. It wasn’t quite Rocket and definitely wasn’t the Ventures but somehow an intersection of the two. In 2022, Reis made his first “solo” album Ride the Wild Night and to my ears, about as a good album as any I know- a pretty straight forward take on garage rock with pop hooks. It had the Rocket From the Crypt vibes but with more Nuggets and less post punk edge. All of this Awaits You is some of the same. While it reminds me of the recent work of peers like King Khan, but with radio friendly production. 

Ironically, this blast of fun comes from sadness. Rick Froberg passing away unexpectedly was the catalyst for recording. Froberg had been in bands with Reis like Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes. So Reis who is running at least four bands now, decided he was going to bang out some rock n roll. All of this… is in the mold of his debut solo album. The opener invokes a classic Rocket from the Crypt with a peel my heart like a banana or onion metaphor. Write what you know I guess and if you are prolific as Reis, you don’t have time for the kind of Lauryn Hill, Tom Scholz or Axl Rose style writers block. The notorious reputation of Harbor Freight Tools? That’s a song. What do you put on your Hot Dog? That’s another song. But why overthink it. This is 23 minutes of rock fun and it’s hard to quibble with that. More accessible than the fury of Hot Snakes ( though original drummer Jason Kourikounis and Tommy Kitsos, an occasional Snakes fill- in is on bass). Let’s just rock and have fun. 

2024 - BMG/Swami Records