In 1985, Rochester band The Jet Black Berries landed a song on the soundtrack for “The Return of the Living Dead” alongside bands like The Cramps, The Damned and 45 Grave. Occupying a middle ground between goth/psych-rock and post-punk, the song “Love Under Will” was immortalized in a cherished campy horror classic.
Forty years later, the band is celebrating the re-release of their debut album “Sundown on Venus (Definitive Edition)” along with a newly recorded single, “Rocketfire Sex66.”
As the lore goes, the initial release of “Sundown on Venus” was marred by the inclusion of an additional compilation EP of B-sides and covers not intended to be paired with the album’s space-western concept. But at the time, the label and marketing had motives beyond the band’s artistic vision. The “Definitive Edition” sets the record straight by including the song “Shadow Drive” positioned in the right sequence alongside other tracks that were pushed over to the EP.
The album’s hyperspecific concept and nonlinear narrative are filled with outlaws, Venusian hideouts and mind-controlling monsters — heavily influenced by William S. Burroughs’ “The Red Night Trilogy” and the writings of Aleister Crowley, as noted in the album’s promotional materials.
The album is a wild ride that is certainly worthy of a focused listen and could have even been an influence on later punk luminaries, as the song “Double Cross” has an eerily familiar chord progression and melody as Green Day’s “Welcome to Paradise.”
The inclusion of the brand new single “Rocketfire Sex66” is a nice touch to accompany the rerelease roll-out as it fits in with the sci-fi album concept while also standing on its own. The track leans a bit more into a glam-power-pop vibe, proving that nearly 50 years later, the band still has plenty of ideas, energy and stories to tell. —WREN WERNER
