loading . . . The Cramps are clawing their way back from the crypt in a major way. A newly launched entity called the Cramps Inc. has announced an expansive archival and reissue campaign designed to restore the psychobilly legends’ catalog, vault recordings and official merchandise operation—while reviving the band’s original Vengeance Records imprint in the process. Leading the charge are longtime Cramps devotees Henry Rollins and Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye, who are overseeing tape restoration, mastering and archival production duties through their RAM Prod. partnership.
The first release arrives Aug. 21 in the form of _Gravest Gravy_ , a never-before-released 1977 album produced by late Big Star principal Alex Chilton and sourced from the same sessions that yielded the band’s landmark _Gravest Hits_ EP. The collection will be available on multiple vinyl variants, CD and digitally.
The Cramps Inc. is anchored by Cramps guitarist Poison Ivy Rorschach alongside IntThe Red Records founder Larry Hardy and producer Jimmy Maslon, who worked on several Cramps videos and oversees the Herschell Gordon Lewis and Doris Wishman film catalogs. Rollins and MacKaye are handling what Rollins calls “release ideas, tape maintenance, editing, mixing, mastering and lacquer cutting responsibilities,” working in conjunction with Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Va., and Infrasonic Sound in Nashville.
Rollins says the effort is also intended to combat decades of unofficial merch and bootlegs flooding the market (“the Cramps Inc. is striving to right that wrong”) and the broader campaign will eventually include reissues of _Smell of Female_ , _A Date With Elvis_ , _Stay Sick!_ , _Look Mom No Head!_ , _Big Beat From Badsville_ , _Fiends of Dope Island_ and several other titles via Revolver Distribution.
For now, _Gravest Gravy_ is the crown jewel. Its material originated during October 1977 sessions at Memphis’ Ardent Studios, where the original lineup — the late Lux Interior, Poison Ivy, Bryan Gregory and Nick Knox — worked with Chilton shortly before detonating the underground rock landscape. What fans may not have realized is that Lux and Ivy later attempted to assemble an expanded archival release from those sessions in the late ’80s under the title _Gravest Gravy_. Though mixes were completed and artwork commissioned from Stephanie Chernikowski, the project was ultimately shelved “for reasons lost to time.”
“In 2026, we sought to change that,” Rollins writes. “It was apparent that this record absolutely needed to be with the fans.” Spread across seven quarter-inch reels, the surviving tapes were transferred by noted archivist Brian Kehew, who found them “in pristine condition.” From there, Rollins and MacKaye meticulously reviewed multiple mixes to determine the final versions.
“I sent the mixes and my notes to Ian MacKaye, whose ears I trust more than anyone I know,” Rollins explains. “Days later, he reported back that he agreed with me on all of them.”The resulting collection includes early versions of songs later associated with _Psychedelic Jungle_ , alongside covers of “Rocket in My Pocket,” “Problem Child” and “Hungry,” the latter featuring Chilton on organ.
“What you have in _Gravest Gravy_ is sheer brilliance committed to tape by a band that was plugged in directly to the rock’n’roll mainline, produced by a visionary maniac named Alex Chilton,” Rollins writes.
The emotional stakes behind the project run even deeper for Rollins and MacKaye, both of whom first saw the Cramps together at a formative time. “As I’ve said many times, I first saw the Cramps on April 20, 1979 in a small bar in Washington, DC, and I’ve never recovered,” Rollins recalls. “Ian was standing next to me. We still talk about that show.” He adds, “the opportunity to bring this music to fellow Cramps fans is beyond a thrill. It is an absolute honor that we feel so fortunate to be a part of.”
The Cramps stopped performing in 2006 and have been inactive since Interior’s 2009 death. https://www.spinmagazine.com/2026/05/henry-rollins-ian-mackaye-the-cramps/
