Henry Rollins and former Minor Threat vocalist Ian MacKaye have unearthed a lost studio album by The Cramps. Find all the details below.
Late last year, Rollins confirmed that he and MacKaye had been working on “a great project” together, sparking rumours that new music from the pair was incoming. Soon afterwards, however, the former Black Flag frontman clarified that neither he nor MacKaye featured on the recordings.
Rollins explained that they had been at work on “a demo, recorded in 1979, by a legendary punk band that recently came into [his] possession”, but stopped short of naming the group.
Now, Rollins has detailed a forthcoming slate of releases via a new company, The Cramps, Inc, which is essentially relaunching the band’s label Vengeance Records.
Among the titles coming from the imprint is a lost album from the late ’70s, titled ‘Gravest Gravy’. The record is due to arrive on August 21 on various coloured vinyl editions, CD, and via digital streaming platforms. Pre-order here.
A video for opener ‘TV Set’ – which was initially meant to be The Cramps’ first single – is out now (watch above). The 12-track LP also includes the cuts ‘Weekend On Mars’, ‘Can’t Hardly Stand It’, ‘The Natives Are Restless’ and ‘Rocket In My Pocket’.
Rollins has issued a lengthy statement about his plans to reissue albums by The Cramps, and shared the story behind ‘Gravest Gravy’ – calling it “one of the purest collections of unrestrained, wild music you’ll ever hear”. Scroll down to read in full.
The tracklist for The Cramps’ ‘Gravest Gravy’ is:
‘TV Set’
‘Weekend On Mars’
‘Twist & Shout’
‘Jungle Hop’
‘Can’t Hardly Stand It’
‘Hungry’
‘The Natives Are Restless’
‘Domino’
‘Can’t Find My Mind’
‘Rockin’ Bones’
‘Problem Child’
‘Rocket In My Pocket’
PREORDER: ‘Gravest Gravy’ by The Cramps
Once-shelved release from the psychobilly pioneers recorded during the same sessions which birthed ‘Gravest Hits’.https://t.co/qtBJsi3GT0 pic.twitter.com/kSYkfzP4Hl
— Norman Records (@normanrecords) May 27, 2026
Henry Rollins said:
“In October 1977, the Cramps ventured into Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with producer and Cramps translator extraordinaire, Alex Chilton. The band had planned on recording their song ‘TV Set,’ as an A-side, along with another track or tracks. Mr. Chilton told them the way he liked to work was to have a band record a lot of songs and from that they would pick the best of the bunch.
Luckily for Cramps fans everywhere, the band did just that. The first evidence of these sessions was unleashed upon an ‘unsuspecting human world’ in April 1978 on the band’s own Vengeance Records label. It was a two-song 7-inch with a version of the Trashmen’s 1963 classic ‘Surfin’ Bird’ pushed well beyond its breaking point, forcing it to mutate into a much higher form of lowdown, and Jack Scott’s 1959 cool burning ‘The Way I Walk’, dragged back into the Stone Age…
“After one listen, it was clear the Cramps had absolutely tapped into Rock ’n’ Roll’s mainline. In November of the same year, and again from the October 1977 sessions came another two song lesson in how it’s done, or undone, with easily one of the greatest A sides of all time: ‘Human Fly’. The B side was held hostage by ‘Domino’, originally sung by Roy Orbison. The Cramps’ version swaggers with infinite confidence and is an absolute thrill to listen to.
“In the summer of 1979, young degenerates in England were treated to a 12-inch by the Cramps called ‘Gravest Hits’, which featured not only the aforementioned four tracks, but also a fifth, again from the October 1977 sessions…
“What happened to the rest of the tracks from those auspicious days in October 1977? In 2026, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, rappelled down, deep into the vast, sunless vault of the Cramps tape collection, and resurfaced hours later, disoriented and out of breath, but overjoyed with what he’d returned to topside with: six ¼” reels of tracks, mixed by Lux [Interior] and [Poison] Ivy…
“‘Gravest Gravy’ is one of the purest collections of unrestrained, wild music you’ll ever hear – like Jerry Lee Lewis unchained, like Elvis meets Tarzan – like it should be.
“The Cramps were one of the greatest bands in the history of recorded music, and anyone who heard or saw them, knows and abides by this groovin’ truth. From their inception to this day, the band has fans whose enthusiasm for their life-changing music never wavers. The Cramps made this music for the love of Rock ’n’ Roll. Lux and Ivy made this record for you.”
Before revealing that he and MacKaye had been working on the project last year, Rollins explained in 2024 why he would never make music again after venturing into activism, radio hosting, acting, presenting and spoken word projects.
As for The Cramps, the band’s version of ‘Goo Goo Muck’ enjoyed a massive resurgence in 2022 after it soundtracked Jenna Ortega’s viral dance scene from Wednesday season one.
