Chrome Cranks
(Bang Records)
With their unholy mix of punk, blues, rockabilly and noise, The Chrome Cranks split the difference between Jon Spencer's unhinged garage rock and the ritual intensity of Swans. Formed in Cincinnati in the late 1980s by singer/guitarist Peter Aaron and guitarist William Webber, the band found its sound only after moving to New York City and bringing on ex-Honeymoon Killers' bassist Jerry Teel. A series of drummers played with Chrome Cranks, most notably Bob Bert from Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore (he's on 11 of 19 tracks here).
Chrome Cranks' sound was feral and primitive, all howled out vocals and chainsaw bass and anarchic blues-derived guitar licks. The band made three studio albums during its career, a self-titled debut in 1995, Dead Cool later the same year, and Love in Exile in 1996. All three - along with a live album and assorted singles and really any recorded trace of the Chrome Cranks - were nearly impossible to find until 2007 when Atavistic released Diabolical Boogie a compilation of singles, demos, outtakes and rarities. The reissue brought the band into contact with each other again and this eventually resulted in a handful of 2008 reunion shows.
The Murder of Time is probably an interim measure, an introduction to Chrome Cranks that will do until someone reissues the three mid-1990s albums. It includes many of the best and best-known Chrome Cranks songs, recorded in a range of studio and live settings. An incendiary version of "Driving Bad" starts the album, Aaron rampaging over barbed-wire thickets of rockabilly guitar, and is quickly followed by the slow boogie chaos of "Lost Time Blues." "Draghouse," off the debut, is superbly loud and fast and distorted, its subterranean bassline setting off fissures and faultlines under the surface. The "girl" songs - "Nightmare in Pink," "Hot Blonde Cocktail", "Doll in a Dress" - tend to rock the hardest and most simplistically. If you start thinking Stooges or New York Dolls, it is probably during one of these cuts.
Yet there is something bigger, darker and more complicated than garage rock going on here. Even though a manic heat permeates many of these tracks, you also feel an occasional chill, as on the bass-driven, incantatory "Dead Cool," where Aaron insists that "you don't need junk, man, if you've got the blues." Later, the droning "Eight Track Mind" performs the same trick, moving through heat and fury to a meditative center. The disc closes with an extended version of "Heaven Take Me," eight minutes of slow-blistering guitar and damaged blues melody that sounds a bit like Television, a bit like Swans, a bit like Robert Plant after a 48-hour bender.
The Murder of Time is caustic, abrasive stuff, strong enough that you might want to listen in segments, rather than all the way through. It also seems, judging from the live tracks, that this is a band to see, rather than to ponder with headphones on. There may be more chances to see Chrome Cranks live. According to a recent article by Peter Aaron (he is the music editor at a Hudson River Valley alt.weekly), the band is thinking about additional dates and not ruling out the possibility of another album. Until then, The Murder of Time is an excellent way to catch up on a long-overlooked band.
Standout tracks: "Lost Time Blues", "Dead Cool", "Draghouse" JENNIFER KELLY
