''Cut Carefully and Play Loud'' is an EP by American punk rock band Rocket from the Crypt, released in 1999 by Flapping Jet Records. It was the band's last recording with drummer

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, and ...

, who left the group shortly thereafter due to disagreements over the professional direction of the band. The EP was recorded by friend of the band Gar Wood in his garage. It has unusual packaging; the die cut cardboard sleeve has a large flower-shaped sticker placed over the center hole, making it necessary to cut the sticker around the center hole in order to remove the record from the sleeve. This causes the cut-out portion of the sticker to then become the center label of the record. The warning "cut carefully and play loud" is printed along the edge of the area to be cut, since cutting the sticker poses the risk of scratching the record. This warning became the ''de facto'' title of the EP. Because of the unusual packaging the records all had to be hand-assembled by the band and friends. The EP was released in 12" vinyl format limited to 3,000 copies, with the first 100 copies pressed on translucent blue vinyl. The original EP is out of print, however all the songs were re-released on CD format on the compilation album '' Hot Charity/Cut Carefully and Play Loud'' in 2002. In the insert notes of the CD re-release, singer/guitarist John Reis describes ''Cut Carefully and Play Loud'' as "a snapshot of a band in hell." After the band ended their contract with major label

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

they spent much of 1999 uncertain of their future or what their next move would be. They were not as prolific as they had been in past years, but still would rehearse and record roughly 3 times per week. Of the songs recorded during this period the band contributed what they felt were the best to the EP. It was due to this period of uncertainty as well as disagreements with Reis over the band's career decisions that drummer Atom left the group in early 2000.

Track listing

Side 1 #"If the Bird Could Fly" #"Blood Robots" #"Waste It" Side 2 #"Hot Wired" #"Who Let the Snakes In??"

Performers

*Speedo (

John Reis John Reis, also known by the pseudonyms Speedo, Slasher, and the Swami is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which ...

) -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, lead vocals *ND (

Andy Stamets Andy Stamets (also known by the pseudonyms ND, The Flame, and Black Flame) is an American guitarist who was a member of Rocket from the Crypt,Puls, Eric (1993) "Rocket From the Crypt Is Crankable", ''Chicago Sun-Times'', May 7, 1993, p. 19 Bee ...

) - guitar, backing vocals *Petey X ( Pete Reichert) - bass, backing vocals *Apollo 9 ( Paul O'Beirne) -

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

, backing vocals *JC 2000 (

Jason Crane Jason Crane (also known by the pseudonym JC2000) is an American drummer and trumpeter notable as a member of Rocket from the Crypt, The Black Heart Procession, and Beehive & the Barracudas. Musical career Crane originally performed as drummer i ...

) -

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

, percussion, backing vocals *Atom (

Adam Willard Adam David "Atom" Willard (born August 15, 1973) is an American drummer who has been a member of several notable musical acts. Willard's drumming career began in 1990 when he joined Rocket from the Crypt, with whom he remained until 2000. Subseq ...

) -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Album information

*Record label: Flapping Jet Records *Produced by

*Recorded by Gar Wood at Box Studios in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

References

{{Authority control 1999 EPs Rocket from the Crypt albums