Rocket from the Crypt
Group Sounds
Vagrant VR-352 LP/CD, released 2001 (U.S.)
Vagrant VR-352 LP, released 2013/2016 (U.S.)
B-Unique bun 006 CD, released 2001 (UK)
Victor/Vagrant VICP-61251 CD, released 2001 (Japan)
Rocket from the Crypt debuted on Vagrant with this hotly anticipated follow-up to RFTC, and it did not disappoint. I was counting down the days until this one was released. That record store in New Orleans was not used to seeing people come in first thing in the morning. Another great record. From the collecting standpoint, this one was once straightforward...black vinyl, moderate quantities. It was starting to get harder to find, though...the price started creeping upward around 2011-12. Then, the re-presses happened, and the price of the original settled down again.
The UK and Japan CD releases of Group Sounds both contained bonus tracks. The UK version had three: "Chariots on Fire", "I Won't Stare", and "Alone." This version of "Chariots on Fire" is different from the one that appeared on the 2000 Vagrant sampler (but is the same version that eventually made its way onto All Systems Go III). "Alone." however, is the same version that appears on 2001's Vagrant sampler. "I Won't Stare" was exclusive to this disc. The Japanese version contained one bonus track: "Free Language Demons," from the split 7" with the Get Up Kids.
2013 brought us a rather unexpected reunion of Rocket from the Crypt. While they were busy waging audio war in Europe, Vagrant reissued the band's final two albums for Record Store Day. Group Sounds was reissued on white vinyl with a yellow splatter pattern in it. It was limited to 500 copies, and so instantly became rare.
But wait, there's more...Vagrant could not resist sapping collectors of money, so they released three more variants in 2016: clear with black and yellow splatter, yellow, and clear with blue splatter. For a while, they were saying that the blue splatter ones were not for sale, and were being held back for something, but they were eventually sold in Vagrant's store along with the others. All of these are somewhat uncommon on Discogs and eBay, but that's odd, since they all appear to still be available directly from Vagrant's store on Kingsroad Merch.
| Version | Value ($) | Scarcity | Price Trending |
|---|---|---|---|
| VR-352 Black | 25-35 | 3 | Stable |
| VR-352 White with Yellow Splatter (500) | 15-25 | 5 | Down |
| VR-352 Clear with Black and Yellow Splatter | 25-30 | 5 | Stable |
| VR-352 Yellow | 25-30 | 5 | Stable |
| VR-352 Clear with Blue Splatter | 25-30 | 5 | Stable |
 Black Original |
 White with Yellow Splatter |
 Test Pressing (Re-press) |
 Clear with Black and Yellow Splatter |
 Yellow |
 Clear with Blue Splatter |
| Test Pressing | Re-press: Black vinyl, generic white MPO labels |
|---|
This page was last updated on December 29, 2019.
