1995 was Rocket's year of sheer productivity -- no less than three separate major releases, counting the fantastic The State of the Art Is on Fire EP, not to mention another slew of singles. The rarest of the three is for many the best, the limited-edition vinyl-only release Hot Charity. Just under half an hour long, this particular album has never been reissued on CD, though it's been sought after more than a few times by obsessed fans, while Japanese and Australian special editions of other Rocket albums have included tracks from it on bonus discs. Starting with the dramatic slow build of "Pushed," making for an almost cinematic opening to the proceedings (helped by the fact that it's an instrumental), Hot Charity smokes from the start and takes special care not to let up. The recording quality sounds fantastic, the band is as playful as it is utterly hard-edged, and everything, simply put, rocks. There's the party grooving of "My Arrow's Aim," with some smart guitar playing increasing the nerviness as everything gets more driving, ending up in a great, strutting chorus interspersed with Apollo 9 and JC 2000 blowing like fiends. Or one can just simply let the amazing blend of Reis' vocals and the backing singing from others on the downright soaring "Guilt Free" do its work. Slower grooves aren't forgotten, like the twangy, measured kick of "Feathered Friends," piano adding to the wooziness here and there. Mostly, though, it's music like the addictive handclap/rockabilly bass and echo leading into the rip-roaring "Lorna Doom," quick, amazing end solo and all, which leads the way, and that's nothing to regret in the slightest. In lieu of a wider issue, this is one to search for -- either in and of itself or on the Internet. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
Hot Charity is an LP by the San Diego, Californiarock band Rocket from the Crypt, released in 1995 on the fictitious record label Perfect Sound Records (though this name appeared on the record sleeve no such label actually existed; in reality the band released it themselves). The original release was limited in number and soon went out of print, however it was re-released in CD format in 2002 by singer/guitarist John Reis on his Swami Records label as part of the compilation album Hot Charity/Cut Carefully and Play Loud.
The LP was supported by a 6-week "free tour" using money from the band's Interscope Records contract to cover the costs, so that fans would not have to pay admission to any of the band's shows for the duration of the tour. This was an unusual move and demonstrated particular faith in the band on the part of the label, especially considering that Rocket had not yet recorded anything for Interscope (the band had negotiated an unusual clause in their contract which allowed them to record vinyl releases for other labels).
Hot Charity was the second of three releases by Rocket from the Crypt in 1995. The EPThe State of Art is on Fire and album Scream, Dracula, Scream! were both also recorded and released that year, and singer/guitarist John Reis would later refer to these three records as a "trilogy".
According to Reis' liner notes included in the CD re-release, Hot Charity was intended to be an experiment of sorts, using funds from the band's recently signed contract with major label Interscope to record in a large professional studio. The first attempt at recording the LP occurred over a five week period in Hollywood with a label-suggested producer. The band was unsatisfied with the final tone and mixes of the tracks and attempted to salvage the recordings by sending them to a mixing engineer in New York for remixing. They still found the results unsatisfactory, however, and returned to Hollywood a month after the original sessions to completely re-record the tracks with producer Sally Browder. They found these recordings much more satisfactory and recorded a new song, "My Arrow's Aim." In an attempt to save money the band mixed the tracks at a cheap, poorly maintained studio which went bankrupt days after their session ended. The master tapes were seized by the bank, making it nearly impossible for the band to have access to them. Though they were still not completely satisfied with the final mixes, the LP was released and the band was relieved to have finished the project.
