TS: RFTT vs. RFTC

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OK, I'll admit that I'm really not qualified to offer my own opinion on this one, as I've always been too pissed off at how Rocket From The Crypt stole their name from Rocket From The Tombs to really give them a fair listen (though I'll admit that the bits of RFTC I've heard haven't much impressed me).

Anyway, now that we have proper releases of both RFTT's archival material and their reunion to compare to RFTC, I'm sure you all must have opinions.

― Wub-Fur Internet Radio, Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:23 (twenty years ago)

RFTT

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:27 (twenty years ago)

RFTT by a whole lot.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:30 (twenty years ago)

RFTW wins.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:32 (twenty years ago)

ready for the world?

(rftt for me)

― petesmith (plsmith), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:33 (twenty years ago)

YOU KNOW IT

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

RFTC. Though if Pere Ubu didn't exist I'd be more conflicted (RFTC would still win for me, though).

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

RFTT

― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

Outta curiousity, do people really find the RFTT archival stuff not to be Ubu-redundant and crucial on its own, or are is it more of a "by default" due to the negligible nature (for them) of RFTC? I enjoy the RFTT stuff (they're definitely one of the highlights of that '70s midwest-Akron "harsh nerd" sound), but I do prefer the Ubu versions.

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

RFTT were a much different band than early Ubu. Way heavier Alice Cooper kinda sound.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

Even when I prefer the Pere Ubu or Dead Boys versions of songs (as I do for "Final Solution," "Tokyo," and "Sonic Reducer"), there's so much awesome stuff on that RFTT like "So Cold" and "Muckraker" and "What Love Is" that was never rerecorded by any of the subsequent bands.

RFTC just never did it for me, but I'm a big Reis fan otherwise.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:51 (twenty years ago)

i mean, you can hear the dead boys in the RFTT stuff, too. pere ubu seemed, at least after their first few singles, to subvert their own attempts to do anything as straightforward as RFTT's "so cold" with textural/electronic weirdness. id probably rather have pere ubu than RFTT, but im glad i can have both...

― petesmith (plsmith), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:51 (twenty years ago)

I'll add to this discussion that I saw RFTT live and they were insufferable dicks, every one of them. And when some poor crusty kid had the audacity to yell "Punk Rock!" at them, they explained that they were not punks, but "performers," and promptly exited the stage; the members of RFTC seem like nice boys to me, though I cannot speak with any experience.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Thursday, 13 October 2005 15:57 (twenty years ago)

Web-Fur, why does it piss you off so much that RFTC took their name from RFTT? As far as I know, they've always been upfront about it. Does it take away from RFTT's music in some way?

― Lingbertt, Thursday, 13 October 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)

I've always been pissed off at those who are pissed off at RFTC stealing RFTT's name and therefore not giving RFTC's music a fair shake. Face it, though a great band, RFTT wasn't that important in the grand scheme of rock and roll to warrant such fervent bigotry. And RFTC made major label punk rock bearable in the '90s for those of us who didn't cotton to the Green Day/Blink 182/Sum 41 axis of pop evil.

RFTC made two great albums: "Scream Dracula Scream" and "RFTC" a bunch of great singles, and loads of good music over the course of 10 plus years, without really letting up. RFTT, though probably more influential on alcoholics, became overly obsessed with the Stooges, recorded music on shitty equipment, and drank itself to death before reincarnating into a better band, Pere Ubu (at least early Pere Ubu--anyone listen to "Waiting for Mary" recently? Ugh.)

So: RFTC wins!

― Matt Carlson (mattsoncarlhew), Thursday, 13 October 2005 17:33 (twenty years ago)

I don't agree that early Pere Ubu was better.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 13 October 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)

RFTT, though probably more influential on alcoholics

This would convince me if I didn't already have an opinion. (Which is RFTC.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 13 October 2005 17:38 (twenty years ago)

>Web-Fur, why does it piss you off so much that RFTC took their name
>from RFTT? As far as I know, they've always been upfront about it. Does
>it take away from RFTT's music in some way?

No, of course not. It's just always struck me as a skeevy thing to do.

Hey, let's steal the name of this legendary yet obscure band... but we'll change one word... to a synonym...

I freely admit to being an ardent longtime fan and friend of Pere Ubu (and they definitely are the sort of band that tends to engender protective feelings in their fans). I mean, I don't hate RFTC for it or anything. The name appropriation just kinda predisposed me not to like them, so I disqualified myself and asked what all you (presumptively unbiased) folks think. Seems fair to me :)

― Wub-Fur Internet Radio, Friday, 14 October 2005 05:47 (twenty years ago)

>> Even when I prefer the Pere Ubu or Dead Boys versions of songs (as I do for "Final Solution," "Tokyo," and "Sonic Reducer"), there's so much awesome stuff on that RFTT like "So Cold" and "Muckraker" and "What Love Is" that was never rerecorded by any of the subsequent bands.

What Love Is is on Young, Loud & Snotty by the Dead Boys. I like the RFTT version better though.

The RFTT version of 30 Seconds Over Tokyo is fucking amazing.

Can't say I've ever listened to RFTC, so can't fairly answer the question. I only know "On a Rope", which I didn't really like all that much.

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 14 October 2005 06:03 (twenty years ago)

tombs for me. they won me over with that awesome riff on "raw power" on the compilation. sounds so wired! not that RFTC aren't pretty good of course.

I find I get enough out of both RFTT and early ubu that they can co-exist peacefully in my record collection.

― haitch (haitch), Friday, 14 October 2005 06:27 (twenty years ago)

Oh shit, forgot about the DBs version of "What Love Is." Yeah it's good, but I like the RFTT one better. DBs have the superior "Ain't It Fun" though in my book.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Friday, 14 October 2005 12:37 (twenty years ago)

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