ARTIST: Rob Zombie
ALBUM: Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor
LABEL: Zodiac Swan Records/T-Boy Records/Universal Music Enterprises
RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2013
Cinco de Zombie
Written by Dan Sinclair
Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor (VRRV) is the fifth solo album from Robert Bartleh Cummings since he changed the color of his Zombie from “White” to “Rob.” And Mr. Rob Zombie has been a busy man lately as this album was released only days after his latest horror film The Lords of Salem hit theaters. Yes, the man sure has worn a lot of hats since donning that big black one on Beavis and Buttheadback in the day.
Warning for the first track: don’t spend hours trying to figure out exactly what the phrase “Teenage Nosferatu Pussy” means. Is Mr. Zombie calling out the vampire in the 1922 film Nasferatu as a sort of wimp in his youth or is Rob saying that if there was an underage female version of said vampire, he’d love to hit that? But once one gets past all that, he or she will realize that “Teenage Nosferatu Pussy” is a classic example of what Zombie does best with the horror movie-esque dialog intro, the aggressive, mounting rhythmic guitar riffs and Zombie’s familiar creepy yet engaging lead vocals proclaiming, “I am a shadow/I am tomorrow/I am a hero with a buggy whip.” By the time the chorus comes around, you find yourself singing along, not giving a single shit you’re actually saying the words, “Teenage Nosferatu Pussy.”
The second song “Dead City Radio” features Zombie doing a pretty crafty vocal style that best represents the loud, talky-talky, annoying radio disk jockey voice set to music, but the style isn’t nearly as annoying as what it’s supposed to represent. Usually gimmicks like that don’t work well in rock and roll, but somehow here the form functions well. Good job, Rob.
Best song title goes to “Ging Gang Gong Do Gong De Laga Raga,” but please don’t spend as much time thinking about the meaning of this one. Instead remember the line “Rally around the skull on her ass,” because believe it or not, Rob Zombie songs are all about the ladies. Here it’s a beautiful woman’s tattooed rear end that makes Rob sing the gibberish chorus. In “Rock and Roll (In a Black Hole),” Rob does claim that “We’re all dancing in a black hole when all we want to do is Rock and Roll” but not before he informs some girl she’s “Gotta gotta open her mind.” I can only assume that “The Pretty Filthy Creatures” we are meant to “Behold” are also women based on the chorus where Zombie repeats “Mamma” over and over again before instructing her to “Shut your mouth.” In the song “Lucifer Rising,” “All the girls scream, ‘I love you, baby,” and track “The Girl Who Loved the Monsters” is “the girl who wants to fly.” See? Rob is really just a hopeless romantic at his core.
But let’s not forget that VRRV is above all a rock album and this is best illustrated on the guitar heavy songs “Trade in Your Guns for a Coffin” and the The Grand Funk Railroad cover “We’re an American Band.” Plus “Trade in Your Guns” features the unforgettable lines “It’s why we suck/It’s why we fuck.”
Rob Zombie is one of those artists who has already completely polarized most music fans. At this point, one either celebrates or despises his combination of horror, sex and rock and roll and there’s little the man can do to sway your mind the other way. Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor may not impress those already in the despise category, but those that fall on the other side will be more than satisfied with another fun rocking album from their hero. The latter will surely make Mr. Zombie happy because like he says in “White Trash Freaks,” “Life ain’t shit if you ain’t a star.”