When the Cramps first surfaced on the edges of New York's nascent punk scene in 1976, they were a band with a genre all their own; the word "psychobilly" hadn't been coined yet, and while "voodoo rockabilly in the key of death" was accurate enough, it didn't exactly roll off the tongue. The death of Lux Interior in 2009 finally closed the book on the band after more than three decades, but to the last they were an act with a sound and style all their own, a gleaming monument to perversity of all sorts that tapped into rock & roll's most primal influences, presenting its beating heart for all to see. Licensing issues have prevented a comprehensive, career-inclusive Cramps anthology from happening (at least as of this writing), but Munster Records have delivered a worthwhile assessment of the group's first and most musically satisfying era with the compilation File Under Sacred Music: Early Singles 1978-1981. True to its title, this disc pulls together the A- and B-sides from ten singles the Cramps released during their first few years before differences with I.R.S. Records led to a five-year layoff from the recording studio. Since the band's first two singles were compiled on the EP Gravest Hits, most of the remaining tunes later appeared on the albums Songs the Lord Taught Us and Psychedelic Jungle, and the collections Off the Bone and Bad Music for Bad People both featured a number of B-sides and oddities, there is precious little here that can honestly be called "rare," outside of the hard-to-find "Twist & Shout" (not the Isley Brothers classic) and "Uranium Rock" (a Warren Smith cover), but if you're looking for 67 minutes of primal howling, twanging guitars, and echoing madness, you could hardly do better than this set. The Cramps made more than a few fine records after this period (particularly the albums A Date with Elvis and Stay Sick!), but they were never as consistent as they were in their first era with Nick Knox behind the drums and either Bryan Gregory or Kid Congo Powers on second guitar, and these 22 songs still wail as loud and as wild as they did when they were first recorded. As an introduction to the Cramps or a reminder of their curious ascent into the spotlight, File Under Sacred Music is remarkably close to perfect. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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