Search - Cramps :: Look Mom No Head

Bless the Cramps...just not this particular album

Mr. Richard K. Weems | Fair Lawn, NJ USA | 07/29/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, the core of The Cramps, have an amazing legacy behind them. So many albums, so many gems. Even an amazing gig at a mental institution that there's record of--check out YouTube. Anyone who wants to try to say that there are no good Cramps music after Bad Music for Bad People just don't know what they're talking about. Even the revitalization of rockabilly, with releases of Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly and the like prove that their obsession is purely for good music--they've known the virtues of Hasil Adkins and twangy punk for ages. And to even get Iggy Pop onto this one further proves that the Cramps are a force of music that can't be denied.



But this album, as a whole, doesn't quite satisfy. Lux is a little too harsh at times in tracks like "Alligator Stomp" and "Blow Up Your Mind," and other original Cramps tracks just don't satisfy. Fortunately, "Miniskirt Blues," the track that includes the Popmeister, works out fine, and the album even has a sharp start with "Dames, Booze, Chains and Boots." "I Wanna Get In Your Pants" is a genius song about sex and cross-dressing, and the primal lust of "Bend Over, I'll Drive" is just marvelous and a great reminder of what good rock is all about, but beyond those gems, this album doesn't really offer a whole bunch of interest.



I will still prize my fav Cramps discs, like Date with Elvis and Psychedelic Jungle, and if you haven't seen them do "Tear It Up" for the movie Urgh! A Music War, then you have no idea what you're missing. Don't let this album alone generate or diffuse your interest in this seminal band.

"

Cramps - 'Look,Mom No Head' (Restless Records)

Mike Reed | USA | 01/30/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Looks to be The Cramp's ninth 'proper' release.Certainly not their best work,but it'll do,very much so.Tunes here are very decent,regardless like the rather demented "Two Headed Sex Change",the uptempo "Alligator Stomp","I Wanna Get In Your Pants","Eyeball In My Martini" and "Hipsville 29 B.C.".If you're an old school Cramps fan,you shouldn't be dissapointed with,'Look...',it simply isn't likely to change your life.Check out the disc's closer,"Wilder Wilder,Faster Faster" - about as psychobilly as ANYONE can muster up.Plus,on "Miniskirt Blues",Iggy Pop duets with Lux.Wow!Line-up,here:Lux Interior-vocals,Poison Ivy-guitar,Slim Chance-bass and Jim Sclavunos-drums.Not a bad CD to have in your stash."

Best of the Bunch

Cool Cat | Springfield, OR USA | 04/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm telling you the Cramps give you a kick in the pants with this album. They don't only kick you they murder you with a machete! This album is everything great about rock n' roll raw, raunchy, hard, fast and wet, kind of like sex. They mix all the alchemical musical elements in: Rockabilly, Surf, Garage punk, nose pin punk and a heavy dose of hard rock. Bam! The thing in the lab explodes killing everybody in sight! There is not one bad song in this album from start to finish. Of course they use stuff of different songs in the past like making a collage out of your favorite comics and magazines. For instance they use the back drop of a great surf instrumental called "Margaya" by the Fender Four for a insane Lux ramble about the joys of being a hedonist on the song "Wilder Wilder Faster Faster", they redo the awesome blue collar ode song originally by Captain Beefheart "Hardworking Man" its a low down bluesy song they do to devastating effect, another is "Miniskirt Blues" a rockin' garage 60's sleazoid musical bit by The Flower Chldren they do it Cramps style with a harder rocking beat and its a duet with who else but the king of Garage rock himself Iggy Pop! Iggy and Lux sound like demonic twin brothers. They also do "Hipsville 29 BC" a song by the Sparkles it is a insane moaning 60's snot punk anthem that the Cramps own and make their own before the song ends. Then there is the great "Strangeness in Me" by the unknown Rockabilly group the Runabouts. The original is errie and it seems like something a serial killer would sing to his victim before decapitating the person. The Cramps don't mess with this song they keep it the way it was recorded, Lux even sounds like the messed up hillbilly singing the original.

There is alot of their own originals and they are all damn good! "Dames, Booze, Chains and Boots" starts off the album with a rip snorting bonfire. This track just kicks. Then it goes onward. "I Wanna Get in your Pants" is great. The song sounds as if its a sap 50's love song sang by Lux, double entendres in this song make it sound like Lux wants to indulge his inner transvestite and put on his girlfriend's pants and clothes. Yet it sounds like he literally wants in her pants! Only the Cramps could pull that one off. My personal favorite is "Eyeball in a Martini" the song being about a guy who sees eyeballs all over the place. Ivy plays a cool little surf riff in this song the best line being "Went to Lover's Lane to scan for UFO's /You Just imagine what I saw when I pulled down her pantyhose."

This is my favorite Cramps album and thats saying alot. They put out consistently good stuff all the time. For my money this is the best. Its a damn shame that their stuff now seems to be out of print. Shouldn't happen to a band of this influence and caliber. It seems in these times that all the good bands get shafted. So if you see this at all buy it you won't be disappointed."