Cramps: a vote for sexed-up ghoul rock

Lux INTERIOR, cross-dressing frontman for psychobilly superstars the Cramps, is excited about this year’s Halloween show for a lot of reasons: the band’s new drummer, Buster Bateman, and the warmup performances from fellow voodoo rockers Dead Billys and 45 Grave.

Most of all, though, he’s excited about his outfit.

“It’s a really great dress that has photographs of straps and buckles all over it,” said Interior, who still needs to find pantyhose. “It’s such a bondage dress, and I found it at a junk store in Knoxville!”

Tennessee was the fifth stop on a tour that will swing by the Hollywood Athletic Club this Saturday in support of “How to Make a Monster,” the Cramps’ new double album of rare, early recordings and live performances from the mid-’70s. A quintessential creature of the night, the band takes the stage at midnight.

With Interior prancing around the stage in heels -- that is, when he isn’t rolling around and pawing himself -- and longtime bandmate and wife Poison Ivy playing guitar as the menacing, raven-haired vixen, the Cramps’ sexed-up ghoul rock makes for some pretty wild -- and wildly original -- entertainment.

Influenced as much by the camp of ‘60s B-movie horror flicks, the surrealism of artist Salvador Dali and the sexpot antics of Jayne Mansfield as they are by Hasil Adkins and other rockabilly icons, the Cramps serve up a sort of mutant rock ‘n’ roll that has influenced countless bands over 29 years.

Three decades is an awfully long time to be getting dolled up in PVC and spandex, but Interior and Ivy have been at it so long, they say they don’t know how to do anything else.

“It’s a little bit like asking a junkie how he’s been able to keep on dope all these years. It would be harder to quit,” said Interior, who won’t divulge his or Ivy’s age. “It’s just so much fun. You pull in to one town and people scream, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ And you go to a bar and have a great rock ‘n’ roll show and go to the next town and people scream, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ It’s hard to walk away from that.”

It’s been 32 years since Interior (a.k.a. Erick Purkhiser) picked up hitchhiker Ivy (a.k.a. Kristy Wallace) in their native Sacramento, bonding over their enrollment in an art and shamanism class and a shared affection for thrift shop vinyl before hitting the road for New York City, inspired by a picture of CBGB in Rock Scene magazine and a dream of playing the punk rock club.

By 1976, that dream had become reality. “How to Make a Monster” predates that public premiere, beginning with recordings of their earliest rehearsals in the basement of the record store where Interior then clerked. The second CD in the two-disc set captures some of their earliest live shows, including a ’77 gig at New York City’s legendary, now defunct Max’s Kansas City and a ’78 performance at CBGB.

Two years into the band’s existence, the Cramps had already gone through one guitarist and three drummers. In the 26 years since, the group has survived a more or less continuously revolving-door lineup and, as Interior says, the “Egyptian curse” of record labels suing them, dropping them or folding.

In 2001, Interior and Ivy, who live in Glendale, revived Vengeance Records, the independent label under which they released their first 7-inch vinyl singles in the ‘70s. Next spring, Vengeance will release an anthology DVD of never-before-seen videos the group recorded from 1977 forward. After that, an album of original material is planned.

Next month, the group will also play the All Tomorrow’s Parties music festival in Long Beach on a bill that includes Modest Mouse, the Shins and other bands half their age.

But for now, it’s all about this weekend’s show in support of “How to Make a Monster.”

“It’s our day,” said Interior. “We wish every day was Halloween.”

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The Cramps

When: Midnight on Saturday

Where: Hollywood Athletic Club

6525 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

Cost: $35 advance; $45 day of show

Info: (323) 462-6262 or www.hollywoodathleticclub.com