The Cramps: Smell Of Female

One gets the feeling from the title and cover art alone that if the Cramps could have released this live document in Glorious Smell-o-rama they would have jumped at the chance. Even without it one can almost sense the whiffs of perspiration and energy the group was cooking up; recorded at New York’s Peppermint Lounge with Powers on guitar, the quartet slams out a then mostly entirely new set of songs with, as expected, appropriate covers as needed.

The wonderfully profane take on Hasil Adkins’ “She Said” surfaces here, with Interior sounding like he’s about to die more than once. The Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction” and the perfectly appropriate “Faster Pussycat,” taken from the legendary Russ Meyer film of the same name, also give the band more than a little something to chew on.

“Smell of Female” marks the end of a phase in The Cramps’ career and a new beginning. A new beginning because they had been involved in court wrangles with IRS Label boss, Miles Kingston which had prevented them recoding but that was over although The Cramps were no longer on IRS Records – “Smell of Female” came out in Big Beat Records (Part of Ace Records) in this Country. And the end of a phase because this record was the last to feature Kid Congo Powers on guitar (who went on to work with Nick Cave among other things). Subsequent records and shows would use a bass player.

As for the originals, the usual mess of swampy rockabilly and industrial strength noise comes together in just the right way from the start. “Thee Most Exalted Potentate of Love” gives Interior the chance to do his undead but still wired loveman thang right from the start, while Ivy and Powers hit the twang hard and Knox keeps everything going just right. “Call of the Wighat” is another highpoint, with Knox showing that he’s up to more involved pounding and percussion when the need arises. A studio cut, “Surfin’ Dead,” surfaces as a ringer at the end; if not quite the Cramps go Beach Boys, it arguably forecasts the Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Kill Surf City” just enough.