This Los Angeles-based trio plays rough and tumble Psychobilly with an ear for punk-flavored melodies and an aesthetic that keeps production polish to a minimum.

The Rocketz stick to a pretty strict Psychobilly interpretation, singing about the dead, the dying, the undead and, of course, zombies (they're in there somewhere between the dead and the undead). Tony Slash's scratchy vocal style adds pizzazz to the aforementioned topical unpleasantness, and he backs them up with a hefty dose of surf-flavored guitar. "Rise of the Undead", "I Want U Dead" and "Die Zombie Die" don't mince words; each track's heavy rockabilly rhythms plods along to standard Psycho-lyrical fare. The real (ahem) killer here is "Killing", with its sing and spell along chorus about killing sprees; Slash's guitar has a dirty garage-rock sound, which is complemented by a heavy dose of slapped upright bass notes and trashy snare hits. The mid-tempo "My Girlfriend" is a close runner-up -- it sounds like The Stray Cats doing a B-Movie slasher flick soundtrack. And while The Rocketz prefer to keep the mood grisly, "Wildman" is a notable, more upbeat exception: after a sinister guitar introduction, it turns into a high-energy romp with a heavy melodic punk influence and plenty of rockabilly fanfare.

The band tackles several choice cover tunes here, including Screamin' Jay Hawkins's "Frenzy", Johnny Thunders' "Long Blond Hair" and a fabulous version of Eddy Grant's "Police on My Back" that outdoes The Clash's rendition. Each tune gets a heavy Psychobilly makeover, which creates a refreshingly different dynamic. The death-defying trio may not stray as far from Psychobilly as they think, but their musicianship and songwriting is plenty solid.

If you're listening to Rise of the Undead, here's a bit of advice: try to be keep your volume down when you're singing along to "Killing". People aren't particularly fond of folks who sing about killing sprees, especially in the workplace.