Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The Graverobbers
"Scratch My Youth Off"

The Graverobbers
Justine
7" single
(Ask U Tone, 1990)

The Graverobbers hailed from the Washington, D.C. area in the '80s and '90s, but they had a low rather profile. My first even hearing of them was when they played a party at ΣΝ, a former fraternity (the DEA shut it down) at the university from which I was, and continue to be, an alumnus. My friend Bob was a long-time fan of theirs, and he had good taste in music, and we were in a band together at the time, so I joined him.

I thought they were pretty great. Wreckless Eric sounded like a likely influence, and, what'd'ya know, not long after I'd arrived at that conclusion, they did a lovely rendition his 3rd single Take the Cash (K.A.S.H.).

The a-side of this little slab o' wax is good, but the b-side is killer, hence it being today's jukebox selection. The Graverobbers released two more singles and three excellent, full-length CDs:

I highly recommend all three.

Leader Karl Straub is still playing music, but I'm not sure if he's released anything since the demise of The Gravediggers.

NOTE: The covers for these were die-cut, with, I think, a handful of different women portraying Justine. I'm not 100% positive, but I'm pretty sure that's notorious sereal killer Beverly R. Sutphin on my copy.

4 biased opinions:

Biki Honko said...

I like the retro sound of the music, combined with the more current sound of the vocals. Interesting mix

bml64 said...

I really like this song. I'd love to buy an album with this song on it, but it does not seem like it was released on an album. It looks like there are at least three albums. Do you own any of them? Can you recommend one?

Thank you.

Karl Straub said...

hi, karl straub responding here-- this song was never on an album. at some point i plan to make it available either as a download, extra track, or something. i hope when i get to that, you'll still be interested. or at least still alive.

here's a bunch of my music streaming for nothing, and info somewhere on the blog about buying what little is currently available. more to come, but things move slowly here on the top floor of the luxurious STRAUBCORP building. (It doesn't help that we have parties for everyone's birthday.)

Unknown said...

Karl, met you a long time ago post a Slickee Boys reunion show (I think) or maybe after a Woggles show at the Black Cat? Wherever it was, I remember enjoying chatting with you about music (and DC music in particular). My much less known band (Thee Flypped Whigs for whom I played guitar in summer of '91 and 93-96) opened for The Graverobbers at the DC Space in the summer of '91'. You guys were (and still are) a great band! Loved this song and was just searching for it to play for my wife and found this blog - so figured I'd let you know! Cheers, Paul (Whig)