45 Grave - Definition and Overview

A death rock band from Los Angeles, California, 45 Grave emerged from the early 80's punk rock music scene. Unlike many goth rock bands, 45 Grave found an audience among southern California punk rockers, attracted to the band's aggressive, guitar-driven sound that often prefigured black metal in such songs as Wax and Evil. The fact that the band's drummer, Don Bolles, had been a member of The Germs added to their original punk credibility.

On 45 Grave's only full length album, Sleep In Safety, they exhibited a sense of humor not often seen in the world of goth rock, especially in the song Party Time, an anthemic metal sing-along about ironically unpleasant themes which featured in the film Return of the Living Dead.

Along with contemporaries Christian Death, 45 Grave were one of the founders of American death rock genre, which was one of the strands that became the musical genre Goth.

The band consists of:

• Dinah Cancer - vocals (later of Penis Flytrap)
• Paul Cutler - guitar
• Paul Roessler - keyboards
• Rob Graves - bass
• Don Bolles - drums