A TRIBUTE TO ROKY ERICKSON & THE EXPLOSIVES
Roky Erickson was the singer of the 13th Floor Elevators.
The Explosives were an Austin proto-punk outfit.
Together they played a truly before-it's-time mixture of kick ass vintage rock n roll and heavy metal, set to Roky's demented tales of demons, gremlins, ghouls and ghosts. Unfortunatley, there is very little recorded evidence of this union, except for various tracks spread across compilations and bootlegs, and their excellent and only full album (albeit a bootleg), 'Casting the Runes', recorded live in Austin during christmas 1979.
Roky and the Explosives went their seperate ways around 1982, The Explosives releasing their first album 'Restless Natives' in 1981, and preceded by several locally released singles (minus Roky) between 1979 up to 82. Roky continued to record solo and with various backing bands, but performed less and less, his health and sanity deteriorating as the 80's went on, due to electrical shock treatment recieved during the late 60's and early 70's - a sentence given to himself in favor of avoiding prison following a minor drugs bust whilst recording the 13th Floor Elevators third album, 'Bull of the Woods'. With Roky, The Explosives turned up the amps, fuzzed out the guitars and played bad-ass heavy doomed "Horror Rock" - listen to 'Stand for the Fire Demon' and 'Night of the Vampire' from the 'Casting the Runes' album for evidence.
Recently, Roky was given a new lease of life and started to make a serious recovery with his health. Deciding to start performing live again, his backing band is none other than the re-united Explosives.
ROKY ERICKSON & THE EXPLOSIVES - 'Cold Night For Aligators'
'White Faces'
