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  • 45 Grave

    Location: USA – Los Angeles, CA
    Active: 1979 – current

    Hailing from Los Angeles California in 1979, founding members Rob “Graves” Ritter, Don Bolles, and Paul Cutler relocated from Phoenix, AZ (Cutler played in The Consumers, Ritter and Bolles in The Exterminators) added Dinah Cancer (formerly of Los Angeles’ Castration Squad) and emerged as one of that city’s first punk bands with a the dark, tongue in cheek aesthetic that is synonymous with what would become ‘deathrock’. After arriving in LA, Bolles initially played as drummer in LA’s keystone punk band The Germs and also participated in Nervous Gender, while Ritter played with The Bags and The Gun Club. 45 Grave eventually drew Paul Roeseller (formerly of The Screamers) into the fold. 45 Grave was a sort of nexus and galvanization point for those with a taste for more eclectic tastes than strictly hardcore punk, not to mention black dress and gothic humor. Bolles project Vox Pop was formed towards the end of his Germs career; Dinah Cancer would also be involved in Vox Pop which remained active during 45 Grave’s 1980s existence.

    45 Grave’s full length album ‘Sleep In Safety’ is one of the earliest bricks in deathrock’s foundations. Along with their singles, they appeared on the Hell Comes To Your House compilation, firmly cemented next to it in the very same foundation (along with Christian Death) and the equally regarded Return of the Living Dead soundtrack (alongside legends like The Cramps and The Damned, with TSOL, The Flesheaters, Jet Black Berries and Roky Erickson – all of whom have been talked about on this site over the years). In 2004, Dinah Cancer reformed a new 45 Grave after fronting the heavy punk band Penis Flytrap (1997-2001), releasing ‘Pick Your Poison’ in 2012, and as of 2024 are still active.

    Links:
    https://45gravemusic.bandcamp.com/music
    https://www.discogs.com/artist/232625
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_Grave

    Related: The Consumers, The Exterminators, Castration Squad, The Cramps, The Damned, The Gun Club, The Bags, TSOL, The Screamers, Nervous Gender, The Germs, Penis Flytrap, Return of the Living Dead, Dinah Cancer, Vox Pop

    This profile is in development. Contributions?

  • ​​The Consumers

    Location: Phoenix, Arizona
    Active: 1977 – 1979

    Based in Phoenix, Arizona until relocating to Los Angeles where Paul Cutler would eventually form the nucleus of 45 Grave along with fellow Phoenix punk transplants, The Exterminators who brought Don Bolles (Nervous Gender, Vox Pop, The Germs) and Rob Graves aka Rob Ritter (†June 28, 1990) who would also play with The Gun Club and The Bags. Consumers songs like ‘Concerned Citizen’, ‘Dream Hits’, and ‘Anti Anti Anti’ carried over to 45 Grave. The sole album from The Consumers was only posthumously released as ‘All My Friends Are Dead’ in 1995. Other projects that the members were involved in included Human Hands, Cathedral Of Tears, and Vox Pop.

    Links:

    Discogs.com: The Consumers
    Wikipedia: The Consumers

    Related: 45 Grave, The Bags, The Exterminators, Vox Pop, Cathedral Of Tears, Nervous Gender, The Gun Club, Phoenix, 1977

    This profile is in development. Contributions?