CRASS Ten Notes On A Summer's Day (Southern) lp 19.98
Also reissued on vinyl!!
We reviewed the first five reissues from legendary punk rock outfit Crass over the last year, and now here's the sixth and final in the series, and as we mentioned in the other reviews, we're so thrilled that these anarcho-punk legends are finally getting the deluxe reissue campaign they always deserved, but probably never really wanted anyway. In case you missed the reviews of those first five, here's what we had to say about Crass the band (before we get to Ten Notes On A Summer's Day):
Having spent the seventies and eighties kicking against the pricks, these DIY iconoclasts pretty much lived and breathed punk rock like few others since, making music, putting on gigs, setting up squats, coordinating political actions, starting a label, creating art, making films, advocating animal rights, environmentalism, feminism, direct action, anarchism, pacifism, criticizing various subcultures, encouraging dialogues, and encouraging participation and protest, and obviously, and perhaps most pertinent to this here review, making some of the most awesome punk records EVER.
And these records sound impossibly and incredibly fresh, intense and dramatic and emotional, heavy and hooky, jagged and jittery, their ideals clearly on display, backed up by musical muscle, pop smarts, and some super original and innovative sounds and songs. The crazy thing, revisiting these records again, is how much they've influenced modern underground music, there are at least a handful of bands, who now with these records fresh in our ears, sound almost criminally beholden to Crass: Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, Louis XIV, Art Brut... the list goes on.
Legendary for a reason, all of these records should be required listening for punks and metalheads and hell, anyone into underground sounds, and are totally worth revisiting, we had sort of forgotten how goddamn great all of these records are, and even if you still own beat up original copies, there's enough extra stuff, music and artwork wise, that they're totally worth picking up again.
Ten Notes On A Summer's Day was the final proper Crass record, originally released in 1985, and like on past records, displayed yet another dramatic stylistic shift, this time toward something much more European and avant garde, two tracks, one an instrumental version of the other. The music loping and rhythmic, atonal and a bit abstract, jazzy at times, proggy at others, definitely not punk, at least not in the traditional sense. Blurts of synth, wild squalls of free jazz drumming, spidery melodies, all manner of vocals, choral, choir like, at times the sound is super academic, at others, warped and woozily whatthefuck. The instrumental version ditches the drums in addition to the vocals, transforming the sound into something much more swirly and shimmery and atmospheric, still angular and atonal in places, but much more blissed out and hauntingly ambient, not nearly as prickly as the vocal version.
MPEG Stream: "Ten Notes On A Summer's Day"
MPEG Stream: "Ten Notes On A Summer's Day (Instrumental Version)"

CRASS Yes Sir I Will (Crassical Collection) cd 19.98
We reviewed the first four reissues from legendary punk rock outfit Crass over the last few lists, and now here's the 5th (of 6) in the seriesÉ Anarcho-punk legends Crass are finally getting the deluxe reissue campaign they always deserved, but probably never really wanted anyway. Having spent the seventies and eighties kicking against the pricks, these DIY iconoclasts pretty much lived and breathed punk rock like few others since, making music, putting on gigs, setting up squats, coordinating political actions, starting a label, creating art, making films, advocating animal rights, environmentalism, feminism, direct action, anarchism, pacifism, criticizing various subcultures, encouraging dialogues, and encouraging participation and protest, and obviously, and perhaps most pertinent to this here review, making some of the most awesome punk records EVER.
These records sound impossibly and incredibly fresh, intense and dramatic and emotional, heavy and hooky, jagged and jittery, their ideals clearly on display, backed up by musical muscle, pop smarts, and some super original and innovative sounds and songs. The crazy thing, revisiting these records again, is how much they've influenced modern underground music, there are at least a handful of bands, who now with these records fresh in our ears, sound almost criminally beholden to Crass: Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, Louis XIV, Art Brut... the list goes on.
Legendary for a reason, all the Crass records should be required listening for punks and metalheads and hell, anyone into underground sounds, and are totally worth revisiting, we had sort of forgotten how goddamn great all three of these records are, and even if you still own beat up original copies, there's enough extra stuff, music and artwork wise, that they're totally worth picking up again...
Yes Sir, I Will was Crass' last 'official' album, and was originally presented as a single album long track, spread out over both sides (making it the longest punk rock song ever!), and unlike the overt poppiness of Christ The Album, Yes Sir is dense and tense and tangled, rife as always with samples and sonic snippets, even a haunting piano ballad, the music was furious and vitriolic, dueling male/female vocals, over crunchy angular riffing, all wound around frenetic drumming, the production raw and brittle and a little lo-fi, the entire record mostly improvised, Crass version of 'jazz', much of the lyrics culled from a poem by drummer/vocalist Penny Rimbaud, an attack on prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her handling of the Falklands War, it's a pretty intense record, sonically and lyrically, and very ambitious, especially for a 'punk' band, but by now Crass were far from the typical punk band. The extra tracks here, a bonus disc entitled "Why Don't You Fuck Off", is a 2002 'jazz remix' imagining of the whole record, which is about as 'jazz' as the record proper, a slightly noisier and more chaotic take on the original, although there is some saxophoneÉ
Like the other reissues, there's a massive booklet including liner notes and lyrics, as well as a fold out poster, all housed in a super swank slipcover, which fits together with all the other reissues, the various covers combining to form a single image.
MPEG Stream: "Anarchy's Just Another Word"
MPEG Stream: "Speed Or Greed?"
MPEG Stream: "Burying The Hatchet"

CRASS Yes Sir, I Will (Crass Records) lp 13.98
This anarcho-punk classic, recently reissued on cd, now available again on vinyl!!
Anarcho-punk legends Crass are finally getting the deluxe reissue campaign they always deserved, but probably never really wanted anyway. Having spent the seventies and eighties kicking against the pricks, these DIY iconoclasts pretty much lived and breathed punk rock like few others since, making music, putting on gigs, setting up squats, coordinating political actions, starting a label, creating art, making films, advocating animal rights, environmentalism, feminism, direct action, anarchism, pacifism, criticizing various subcultures, encouraging dialogues, and encouraging participation and protest, and obviously, and perhaps most pertinent to this here review, making some of the most awesome punk records EVER.
Their records sound impossibly and incredibly fresh, intense and dramatic and emotional, heavy and hooky, jagged and jittery, their ideals clearly on display, backed up by musical muscle, pop smarts, and some super original and innovative sounds and songs. The crazy thing, revisiting these records again, is how much they've influenced modern underground music, there are at least a handful of bands, who now with these records fresh in our ears, sound almost criminally beholden to Crass: Arctic Monkeys, The Fall, Louis XIV, Art Brut... the list goes on.
Legendary for a reason, all the Crass records should be required listening for punks and metalheads and hell, anyone into underground sounds, and are totally worth revisiting, we had sort of forgotten how goddamn great all three of these records are, and even if you still own beat up original copies, there's enough extra stuff, music and artwork wise, that they're totally worth picking up again...
Yes Sir, I Will was Crass' last 'official' album, and was originally presented as a single album long track, spread out over both sides (making it the longest punk rock song ever!), and unlike the overt poppiness of Christ The Album, Yes Sir is dense and tense and tangled, rife as always with samples and sonic snippets, even a haunting piano ballad, the music was furious and vitriolic, dueling male/female vocals, over crunchy angular riffing, all wound around frenetic drumming, the production raw and brittle and a little lo-fi, the entire record mostly improvised, Crass version of 'jazz', much of the lyrics culled from a poem by drummer/vocalist Penny Rimbaud, an attack on prime minister Margaret Thatcher and her handling of the Falklands War, it's a pretty intense record, sonically and lyrically, and very ambitious, especially for a 'punk' band, but by now Crass were far from the typical punk band...
MPEG Stream: "Anarchy's Just Another Word"
MPEG Stream: "Speed Or Greed?"
MPEG Stream: "Burying The Hatchet"

CRAUSE, IAN Elemental (Tugboat) cd 9.98
In the mid-90s, Ian Crause had fronted Disco Inferno, one of those difficult to pigeonhole entities that led Simon Reynolds to coin the term post-rock. Crause had also helped out on the fantastic Piano Magic album "Low Birth Weight." Those two elements would make you think that a solo outing should make for an interesting listen... unfortunately not. Instead of experimenting with fractured melodies or electronic treatments on guitars, Crause turns in two tracks of '80s college rock sounding much like The Church.

CRAW Map. Monitor. Surge (Cambodia Recordings) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The new one from this cult heavy/emo/mathrock band.

CRAWLING CHAOS Homunculus Equinox (LTM) cd 21.00
To say that Homunculus Equinox is a more accessible record than Crawling Chaos' preceding album The Gas Chair is certainly true, but also a bit misleading since this album is as complex and weird as the best work of Amon Duul II, Brainticket, or Pere Ubu. The Gas Chair is just that odd of an album! Homunculus Equinox falls considerably far from the grim, Mancunian post-punk sound of Factory Records who released the aforementioned Gas Chair album. Even so, everything from Homunculus Equinos came from the same hours and hours of recordings that the band made during the Gas Chair sessions at their own studio back in 1981. This second album was self-released on their own Foetus Productions as a cassette. It's not really a surprise that Factory didn't release it, as Factory's in-house producer Martin Hannett was disgusted that Tony Wilson might consider releasing something as lo-fi as Homunculus Equinox. The remastering job on this CD renders the album with as much clarity as any given reissue from, say, 1967, but admittedly lacks the pristine surface that Hannett provided to Joy Division.
Homunculus Equinox is wilfully eccentric album, fully aware of its predecessors. Crawling Chaos produced a weird hybrid of indulgant Krautrock psychedelia, bleepity bloopy electronically driven space rock, and post-Morricone melodies that get so epic and bittersweet that it wouldn't be surprising if Quentin Tarantino appropriates Crawling Chaos for one of his upcoming soundtracks. Thoroughly surprising and vigorously challenging.
MPEG Stream: "Danger In Paradise"
MPEG Stream: "Heavy Luv"
MPEG Stream: "Taste Of Honey"

CRAWLING CHAOS The Gas Chair (LTM) cd 21.00
Typically dismissed by Brit-pop collectors as "the worst album to be produced by Factory Records," The Gas Chair is anything but. On the contrary, Crawling Chaos' bizarre fragmentation of art-rock, lysergic psychedelia, and primitive electronics should rank as one of the great, lost art-punk records to be re-discovered. Were it not for the fact that Tony Wilson did sign Crawling Chaos to Factory, The Gas Chair would have surely disappeared entirely never to have been heard again. But because LTM has dedicated their energies to reissuing the remainder of the Factory catalogue from the early '80s, The Gas Chair (as well as Crawling Chaos' self-released 2nd album Homunculus Equinox) have thankfully returned to print, and now here we are singing their praises.
Those Brit-pop afficionados are right in saying that there is very little in Crawling Chaos that has anything to do with the Martin Hannett's production or Joy Division's dour atmospheres or anything that remotely sounds like what a Factory band should sound like. Rather than punk antagonism or death disco grooves, the Crawling Chaos harken back to a broken psychedelia which rewires the already complex sounds of Can, Faust, Joe Meek, Comus, and Cro-Magnon. I'm not even sure that they would have found much solace in contemporaries such as Nurse With Wound, The Residents, This Heat, and The Lemon Kittens. As a result, Crawling Chaos don't really sound like much of anything else; but there is an intellect behind the band which keeps The Gas Chair from merely being weird for the sake of being weird. Elliptical post-punk effect dour brooding; oblique electronics meld with serpentine Arabic melodies; thoroughly disturbing pagan folk songs splattered with psychedelic noise, mirroring Comus and Cro-Magnon; Brian Eno-esque pop idiosyncracies disfigured and dislocated; mechanoid synth-punk workouts repleat with vocoder heavy vocals. There's always the possibility that The Gas Chair is a situationist joke, a grand piece of irony that was smarter than most everything around it. Perhaps the aesthetic wandering appealed to Tony Wilson's situationist desires; and that may be the only reason why he signed Crawling Chaos to Factory.
Regardless, The Gas Chair is infinitely more bizarre than the Homosexuals and executed with much greater panache than Metal Urbain, making it one of the best art-punk reissues to come out in a very, very long time.
MPEG Stream: "Macabre Royale"
MPEG Stream: "Guinness"
MPEG Stream: "Harry"
MPEG Stream: "Sex Machine"

CRAZY PEOPLE Bedlam (Gear Fab) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

CREAM ABDUL BABAR The Catalyst To Ruins (At A Loss) cd 12.98
This monstrous 7 piece experi-metal ensemble has been around for years now. Alternately referred to as either 'that metal band with the trombone player' or 'that band with the worst name ever.' Let's address both of those issues right off the bat. They do indeed have a trombone player. Although his presence isn't nearly as obvious on their older records. And yes, Cream Abdul Babar is one of the stupidest names ever. EVER. But it's like the Flaming Lips, after a while, no matter how dumb the name is, it just comes to be synonymous with the music. I'm at the point where I can actually recommend this band by name without cringing. And recommend them I do. Like crazy. This band fucking rules. Their last EP was one of my favorite records ever! Take a little Neurosis, mix in a little Jesus Lizard, a little metal core, and then, just the way AQ likes it, mix in all sorts of ambient weirdness (think a more DIY, less overtly metal Old Man Gloom). Heavy and hypnotically rhythmic, crushing riffs and screamed/almost sung vocals (almost emo, although on the very violent end of the emo spectrum) and a devastating rhythm section. All this and dark droning, backwards, looped ambience and dreamy shapeless rumbles too. It's so good it almost makes me glad they're called Cream Abdul Babar. Almost.
RealAudio clip: "Kill People"
RealAudio clip: "It's Hard To Sue When You're Laughing"
RealAudio clip: "E Is For Intelligent"

CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION Destructivist (Hactivist) cd 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Brutal noise collage from SF (relocated from Pittsburgh, PA) grind activists Creation Is Crucifixion. Three super long tracks of dynamic harsh electronics and rumbling drones. Comparisons to Bastard Noise inevitable, CIC's aural palette is similarly aligned with that of Monde Bruits or Russell Haswell's.

CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION In_Silico (Scorched Earth Policy) cd 11.98
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Reissue (with improved artwork, and a jewel case so Allan can finally buy a copy) of this amazing slab of pummelling grind. Super political, and anti-technology, 1000 mile-an-hour, hyper complex and totally intense grindcore.

CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION / CRITICAL ART ENSEMBLE / CARBON DEFENSE LEAGUE Child As Audience ((R)TMark) cd/book 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Awesome co-operative release between southwestern political grindsters Creation is Crucifixion, Critical Art Foundation and the Carbon Defense League. Beautiful box with a cd/cd-rom and a huge perfect bound book. The book examines the 'reverse engineering of the Nintendo Gameboy' and the concept of child as consumer. Translated into French, Dutch and German, as well as English. The cd contains 3 new tracks from Creation Is Crucifixion, blazing super technical metal grind a la Discordance Axis, as well as 4 ambient tracks with voiceovers relating to the 'child as audience' concept by the Critical Art Ensemble. The cd-rom portion contains development software by the Carbon Defense League. Cool.

CREATION, THE Psychedelic Rose (Cherry Red) cd 17.98

CREATURES Anima Animus (Instinct/Sioux) CD 15.98
The Creatures have been a project since the early 80's as the rhythmic outlet for Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees' drummer Budgie, but since the dissolution of the Banshees, Siousxie and Budgie have had much more time to concentrate on the Creatures project. The previous single "Eraser Cut" was an awesome outing that presented the Creatures with such potential as to possibly jumpstart the entire Goth subculture into finally making a good record again.
Unfortunately, Anima Animus does not live up to such potential. But that doesn't mean this is a bad album. Siouxsie's dark theatrics as the ice queen of the pop world are just as seductive and chilling as from Juju, while Budgie's rhythm section packs a punch of driving beats and eclectic Arabic flares. Glamour photos courtesy of Pierre & Gilles!

CREATURES, THE A Beastiary of (Polydor) cd 28.00
A great time for Siouxie and Budgie fans. Shortly after their stellar reunion tour come two incredible releases and a collection, indeed a beastiary of old ep's, lp's and singles from the early 80's. "Sad Cunt" is one kick-ass track (not on the 10") rolling-out Siouxie's pseudo tribal post-punk, without being retro; an amazing pairing with "Eraser Cut", four songs of Budgie's ecstatic, exotic percussion matched by Siouxie's theatrical chill. A Beastiary of includes the Wild Things ep, "Feast", and the "Miss the Girl" and "Right Now/Weathercade" singles. We are not only excited by these releases; we are grateful.

CREATURES, THE Eraser Cut (Polydor) cdep 6.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A great time for Siouxie and Budgie fans. Shortly after their stellar reunion tour come two incredible releases and a collection, indeed a beastiary of old ep's, lp's and singles from the early 80's. "Sad Cunt" is one kick-ass track (not on the 10") rolling-out Siouxie's pseudo tribal post-punk, without being retro; an amazing pairing with "Eraser Cut", four songs of Budgie's ecstatic, exotic percussion matched by Siouxie's theatrical chill. A Beastiary of includes the Wild Things ep, "Feast", and the "Miss the Girl" and "Right Now/Weathercade" singles. We are not only excited by these releases; we are grateful.

CREATURES, THE Hai (Instinct) cd 15.98
Having ventured to Japan for the "Seven Year Itch" reunion tour for the Banshees in 2002, Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie (who have also recorded a handful of albums together as The Creatures) had managed to arrange a recording session with Japanese Taiko drummer Leonard Eto. Budgie, already an accomplished percussionist known for his exotic flourishes and militant post-punk stomps, was thoroughly enamoured of Eto, and worked much of that extended session with multiple layers of marimba, gongs, hand drums, and big timpani crashes. But as with the Banshees, the Creatures focus upon Siouxsie's voice, which is as lovely, icy, and sensual as ever. Theirs is a simple formula that has worked well before with minimal accompaniment to Budgie's percussive mantras and Siouxsie's inimitable voice; and Hai doesn't veer off course at all, and is as good as anything that The Creatures have produced in the past.
MPEG Stream: "Say Yes!"
MPEG Stream: "Godzilla"

CREATURES, THE Sad Cunt (Polydor) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A great time for Siouxie and Budgie fans. Shortly after their stellar reunion tour come two incredible releases and a collection, indeed a beastiary of old ep's, lp's and singles from the early 80's. "Sad Cunt" is one kick-ass track (not on the 10") rolling-out Siouxie's pseudo tribal post-punk, without being retro; an amazing pairing with "Eraser Cut", four songs of Budgie's ecstatic, exotic percussion matched by Siouxie's theatrical chill. A Beastiary of includes the Wild Things ep, "Feast", and the "Miss the Girl" and "Right Now/Weathercade" singles. We are not only excited by these releases; we are grateful.

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL Green River (40th Anniversary Edition) (Fantasy) cd 12.98

CREEP Issue 2 magazine 15.00
More old zines from the vaults! This is from a very limited quantity of new old stock of this fantastic late '70s / early '80s San Francisco punk zine. Creep sprung up from the void created when Search & Destroy ceased publication, with a fresh local bent and coverage of the Next Wave.
This issue from 1979 features a cover story of Jello Biafra for Mayor, an interview with (then just a radio show) Maximum RocknRoll, as well as a super profile of the Vancouver punk scene (Pointed Sticks, DOA). Also, Craig Lee of the Bags, a Paris scene report and a perplexing (i.e., trolling) interview with local contrarian Johnny Genocide of the band No Alternative. The best piece might be a first-person account of the seduction of punk from a self-identified sadomasochist lesbian, who found aesthetic and emotional community in the chaos of the infamous Valencia St. venue, the Deaf Club.
What makes Creep stand out - aside from the plethora of mind-bending new wave graphics and ads - is its earnest and intelligent commentary on punk as a movement and musings on why it wasn't going to go away any time soon. The political and social critiques of youth culture are surprisingly still interesting, even in a San Francisco that barely resembles itself of 30+ years ago.
Recommended if only just for the vintage aQuarius recOrds ads, but you should know by now that you probably want to read this. And obviously, very very limited quantities available!

CREEP Issue 3 magazine 15.00
More old zines from the vaults! This is from a very limited quantity of new old stock of this fantastic late '70s / early '80s San Francisco punk zine. Creep sprung up from the void created when Search & Destroy ceased publication, with a fresh local bent and coverage of the Next Wave.
A super 1980 issue featuring legends DKs, Angry Samoans and Zeros, as well as a great document of the Alter Boys and their (then) new performance space, Club Foot. Also fascinating is an article on demystifying the record production process, a Germany scene report and interview with the legendary Nervous Gender. And the polemic from the Art Police - destroyers of boring art - isn't half bad either.
What makes Creep stand out - aside from the plethora of mind-bending new wave graphics and ads - is its earnest and intelligent commentary on punk as a movement and musings on why it wasn't going to go away any time soon. The political and social critiques of youth culture are surprisingly still interesting, even in a San Francisco that barely resembles itself of 30+ years ago.
Recommended if only just for the vintage aQuarius recOrds ads, but you should know by now that you probably want to read this. And obviously, very very limited quantities available!

CREEP Issue 4 magazine 15.00
More old zines from the vaults! This is from a very limited quantity of new old stock of this fantastic late '70s / early '80s San Francisco punk zine. Creep sprung up from the void created when Search & Destroy ceased publication, with a fresh local bent and coverage of the Next Wave.
Another stellar 1980 issue featuring a wider assortment of artists - Vktmz, Geza X, Social Unrest, Pink Section, Alex Chilton and the Flamin' Groovies. Also, articles on the Reno punk scene, Brian Eno's use of the tape medium, the looming commercialism of punk, and a trenchant piece about shock value art inspired by Noh Mercy's inflammatory "Caucasian Guilt." Not to be missed!
What makes Creep stand out - aside from the plethora of mind-bending new wave graphics and ads - is its earnest and intelligent commentary on punk as a movement and musings on why it wasn't going to go away any time soon. The political and social critiques of youth culture are surprisingly still interesting, even in a San Francisco that barely resembles itself of 30+ years ago.
Recommended if only just for the vintage aQuarius recOrds ads, but you should know by now that you probably want to read this. And obviously, very very limited quantities available!

CREEP Issue 5 magazine 15.00
More old zines from the vaults! This is from a very limited quantity of new old stock of this fantastic late '70s / early '80s San Francisco punk zine. Creep sprung up from the void created when Search & Destroy ceased publication, with a fresh local bent and coverage of the Next Wave.
Final 1981 issue of this great, long lost SF punk zine: "If you love God, burn a church." Articles on Crass, Flipper, Jamaican reggae, local promoter Paul Rat, Bryan Ferry, Roky Erickson and the usual local news and controversies of the day. Also notable - an interview with Olga de Volga of the Lewd/VS and her not-so-ironic use of leather/BDSM imagery, appropriately dubbed "Bondage Rock."
What makes Creep stand out - aside from the plethora of mind-bending new wave graphics and ads - is its earnest and intelligent commentary on punk as a movement and musings on why it wasn't going to go away any time soon. The political and social critiques of youth culture are surprisingly still interesting, even in a San Francisco that barely resembles itself of 30+ years ago.
Recommended if only just for the vintage aQuarius recOrds ads, but you should know by now that you probably want to read this. And obviously, very very limited quantities available!

CREEPER LAGOON Remember The Future (Arena Rock) cd ep 8.98
Creeper Lagoon's first post-Dreamworks release finds its home on the Arena Rock Recording Company. An aching melancholia continues to flow throughout the music of this SF quartet (which also made them a perfect presence on the recent Nothing Left To Lose: Tribute To Kris Kristofferson compilation, they did a beautiful rendition of "Why Me"). Each of these five sleekly produced songs is steeped in the lushest of aches and yearnings even despite the uptempo-ness of a couple of them. Spacy, glistening and drifting, it stirred thoughts of an imaginary encounter between the Alan Parsons Project and producer David Fridmann (Sparklehorse, Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev). A lovely, subdued downer affair.
RealAudio clip: "The Way It Goes"
RealAudio clip: "Kisses And Pills"

CREEPER LAGOON Take Back the Universe and Give Me Yesterday (Dreamworks) cd 16.98
Before Creeper Lagoon were originally signed, 'they' were just a 'he,' and Creeper Lagoon was a completely different beast. It was back when San Francisco had more of a 'scene' and had at least a few more (than 2!) clubs to play, and Creeper Lagoon was a sort of home-recorded indie-noise-pop / hip-hop-trip-hop hybrid. A bastard Beck, if you will. Well, a few years have passed, and Creeper Lagoon have become (with no small amount of major label influence, I'd imagine) a regular old indie rock band being primed for MTV and commercial radio. That said, Creeper are still a good band--just a little more faceless than they were. Anyway, I don't think Dreamworks or MTV or Craig Kilborn (where we recently saw them perform a nice but not entirely remarkable song) are necessarily ready for something truly unique. So while this record is not bad--in fact, it's pretty good (great production, great playing)--it's a shadow of something that could have been really amazing.

CREEPER LAGOON Watering Ghost Garden (Spin Art) cd 8.98
Creeper Lagoon are the lauded local band whom the readers of, erm, Spin voted "Best New Artist of 1998" and who play pleasantly warm power-pop/alt-rock. Though this mini-album (6 songs) is certainly impeccably executed, one hopes that with the next album they will manage to blend their influences into a truly original sound, as on this album their influences are all too clear. Two songs sound like mellow Flaming Lips outtakes, and a couple are practically Tom Petty-ish in their doleful melodicism. It's pretty.
RealAudio clip: "Big Money Struggle"

CREEPS ON CANDY Wonders of Giardia (Alternative Tentcles) cd 10.98
Super ass kicking angular new wave. Heavy like you would expect from ex-members of Dead and Gone, but with generous helpings of The Fall, Pere Ubu, Television, Voidoids. Fans of the following should check out Creeps on Candy: VSS, Calculators, Slaves, Jesus Lizard, Neurosis, and East Bay crust-core as well as Chicago no-wave.

CREEPS ON CANDY Wonders of Giardia (Alternative Tentcles) lp 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Super ass kicking angular new wave. Heavy like you would expect from ex-members of Dead and Gone, but with generous helpings of The Fall, Pere Ubu, Television, Voidoids. Fans of the following should check out Creeps on Candy: VSS, Calculators, Slaves, Jesus Lizard, Neurosis, and East Bay crust-core as well as Chicago no-wave.

CRESCENT By The Roads And The Fields (Fat Cat) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Crescent's fourth album By The Roads And The Fields veers towards jazz territory, though their origins began in the Bristol, UK version of post-rock which also spawned Flying Saucer Attack, Amp, and Movietone, whose members circulated through each project. Hints of the Crescent jazz persona were noticeable on their preceding albums Electronic Sound Meditations and the sublime, if overlooked masterpiece Collected Songs; however, those two albums were so encrusted with a thick patina of antique tape echo that the songs themselves decomposed into mere fragments of disembodied organ stabs, slow motion groovy stutters, and monotone vocals. By The Roads And The Fields leaves that tape echo machine in the corner, occasionally kicking it on, but mostly as a flourish to the new direction of Crescent -- a lazy meandering through Spanish guitar chords, sultry Latin jazz rhythms played at an incredibly slow pace, maudlin clarinet skronk, and the vibrato charm of an old electric organ. This isn't full-on Blue Note jazz, but is like a gypsy band of art rockers forgetting and remembering jazz standards while attempting to perform on a sunbleached, empty plaza overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. While holding little actual resemblance, Crescent's push into jazz parallels the loungecore jazz of Bohren and Der Club of Gore and the turgid atmospheres of Labradford. If you don't like jazz at all you might not care for it, but there is something special in this record that a lot of people are going to like.
MPEG Stream: "Spring"
MPEG Stream: "Structure and Form"

CRESCENT Collected Songs (Roomtone) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Due to Bristol's rather incestuous pool of avant rock bands, Crescent's name often appears in conjunction with Flying Saucer Attack, Movietone, Third Eye Foundation, and Amp. As it should, since members of Crescent have performed with all three of those groups. It is a tad disheartening to see customers buy Crescent records with the hope of hearing a cosmic drone of blissful feedback, only to find an antithetical abject muck, and then selling them back.
And you know what, there's absolutely nothing wrong with an abject muck, actually we really like abject muck. If you listen closely to the tracks that Matt Jones (Crescent's mastermind) has appeared on in Amp and Movietone, you'll realise that everything he touches ends up with a gritty lo-fi quality. And for Crescent's third album, he has taken up residence in a Bristol church to capture a rather humid, almost rusting sound on top of his very loose songs. A gothic (NOT in the Trench Coat Mafia definition) sensibility of decaying atmospheres, permeates the slow moving waves of sonorous basslines, loose hammond organ semi-improvisations, and skittering rhythms, somewhere between jazz and krautrock.

CRIB She Is Church (WIN) cd 12.98
Devin Sarno, who recently did a collaborative lp with Nels Cline (see elsewhere in this list, hopefully), here sculpts an aural sprawl of austere drones using only a bass guitar...

CRIME Hot Wire My Heart / Baby You're So Repulsive (Kitten Charmer) 7" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Originally released for this year's Record Store Day, this seminal slab of SF punk is now available to the world at large, the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing reissue campaign of all the singles from these legendary punks. This 7" was originally released in 1976, and while some younger folks might not remember Crime, they probably remember the A side, "Hot Wire My Heart", as it was covered by Sonic Youth, and listening to the original, it's easy to hear why SY were drawn to it, with its droned out melodies, killer hook, and noisy guitars (especially for the time), in fact, it actually kind of sounds a little Sonic Youthy in its original form, which is pretty remarkable. The flipside "Baby You're So Repulsive" is all swaggery knuckle dragging snarl, and like the A side is surprisingly noisy and is definitely prescient, knowingly or not, of what would follow. There's some strange stuttery lurches too, which make this just slightly damaged, and a fucking killer jam that sounds as good now as it did 35 years ago!!
Digitally remastered from the original master tapes, housed in an exact reproduction of the original sleeve, pressed on crazy tri-colored red, white and blue vinyl, LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!

CRIME Hot Wire My Heart / Baby You're So Repulsive (Kitten Charmer) 7" 5.98
Available again, now on black vinyl, and at a nice price!!
Originally released for this year's Record Store Day, this seminal slab of SF punk is now available to the world at large, the first in what will hopefully be an ongoing reissue campaign of all the singles from these legendary punks. This 7" was originally released in 1976, and while some younger folks might not remember Crime, they probably remember the A side, "Hot Wire My Heart", as it was covered by Sonic Youth, and listening to the original, it's easy to hear why SY were drawn to it, with its droned out melodies, killer hook, and noisy guitars (especially for the time), in fact, it actually kind of sounds a little Sonic Youthy in its original form, which is pretty remarkable. The flipside "Baby You're So Repulsive" is all swaggery knuckle dragging snarl, and like the A side is surprisingly noisy and is definitely prescient, knowingly or not, of what would follow. There's some strange stuttery lurches too, which make this just slightly damaged, and a fucking killer jam that sounds as good now as it did 35 years ago!!
Digitally remastered from the original master tapes, housed in an exact reproduction of the original sleeve.

CRIME San Francisco's Still Doomed (Swami) cd 13.98
Kudos to John Reis' Swami label for finally making this long-awaited reissue a reality! San Francisco's Doomed featured Crime demos from '78 and '79, first saw the light of day a decade or so ago, and now is remastered and reissued with two bonus tracks and liner notes and photos and all that. So thanks to Swami, SF's *still* doomed. (It's been a good year for "holy grail" punk cd reissues: first Metal Urbain, now Crime!)
I guess there's three sorts of people reading this review: there's the folks who already know this band and have been waiting and waiting for something on cd and will be down here in, like, two seconds to buy a copy. Then there's those of you who have heard *of* Crime but never really heard them, who are curious if they really were as important, essential, kick ass of a punk band as you've been told... well, they are! So get down here now too. Finally, there's those of you for whom Crime is just another name, maybe you've heard of maybe not, but it's got no special significance. For you, the history lesson (in brief): Crime released their first single in '76, proclaiming themselves to be San Francisco's "First and Only Rock and Roll Band". That hyperbole of course ain't quite true but indicates the level of punk attitude you're in for here. Hard rocking, fast, and snotty, Crime were violent and stylish -- they kicked out the jams in SFPD uniforms and shades! This definitely belongs on the same shelf with your Iggy & the Stooges and Dead Boys discs...
This reissue includes 2 alternate-take bonus tracks from the same '76 session as their debut single (btw, a Crime singles comp is forthcoming someday on Revenant, we're told). Very recommended, punk fans! And, like Jim Jocoy's photo book We're Desperate, a reminder of when living in SF was actually probably pretty cool... not that it's not cool to be here now...but there ain't no freakin' bands like Crime prowling the city anymore these days, no sir!!
MPEG Stream: "San Francisco's Doomed"
MPEG Stream: "Feel The Beat"

CRIME San Francisco's Still Doomed (Swami) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Kudos to John Reis' Swami label for finally making this long-awaited reissue a reality! San Francisco's Doomed featured Crime demos from '78 and '79, first saw the light of day a decade or so ago, and now is remastered and reissued with two bonus tracks and liner notes and photos and all that. So thanks to Swami, SF's *still* doomed. (It's been a good year for "holy grail" punk cd reissues: first Metal Urbain, now Crime!)
I guess there's three sorts of people reading this review: there's the folks who already know this band and have been waiting and waiting for something on cd and will be down here in, like, two seconds to buy a copy. Then there's those of you who have heard *of* Crime but never really heard them, who are curious if they really were as important, essential, kick ass of a punk band as you've been told... well, they are! So get down here now too. Finally, there's those of you for whom Crime is just another name, maybe you've heard of maybe not, but it's got no special significance. For you, the history lesson (in brief): Crime released their first single in '76, proclaiming themselves to be San Francisco's "First and Only Rock and Roll Band". That hyperbole of course ain't quite true but indicates the level of punk attitude you're in for here. Hard rocking, fast, and snotty, Crime were violent and stylish -- they kicked out the jams in SFPD uniforms and shades! This definitely belongs on the same shelf with your Iggy & the Stooges and Dead Boys discs...
This reissue includes 2 alternate-take bonus tracks from the same '76 session as their debut single (btw, a Crime singles comp is forthcoming someday on Revenant, we're told). Very recommended, punk fans! And, like Jim Jocoy's photo book We're Desperate, a reminder of when living in SF was actually probably pretty cool... not that it's not cool to be here now...but there ain't no freakin' bands like Crime prowling the city anymore these days, no sir!!
MPEG Stream: "San Francisco's Doomed"
MPEG Stream: "Feel The Beat"

CRIME IN CHOIR Gift Givers (Kill Shaman) cd 12.98
Ah, sadly this new disc from San Francisco's Crime In Choir is also their swansong. Please say it ain't so, guys. 'Cause what other band around here is going to provide our fix of dazzling, groovy instrumental prog inspired by cult foreign film soundtracks?? But at least we've got this final recording. It's with the same lineup (right?) that produced their previous album Trumpery Metier highlighted here two years ago, meaning this features Tim Soete, formerly of the Fucking Champs, doing percussive math on the drumkit, joined by plenty of vintage synth sizzle, glorious guitar wail, and jazzy sax. Crime In Choir's usual '70s prog derived bombast is in full effect here, with some nods and winks to the discotheques of the high-gloss, coke-dusted '80s. The 7 tracks here range from the cop show / suspense movie chase music funk of the disc's opener and title track to more melancholic, moody stuff like the mellow yet majestic "Pedal Nervous Sensation" and the cosmic synth pulsations of the album's lovely finale, "Fool's Guild" (which builds to something of a maniacal conclusion).
Both Goblin (definitely) and Italo-disco (probably) seem like possible reference points, and if you liked Zombi's "Sapphire" you might be on the same wavelength as Crime In Choir is here, not that this gets quite so electronic-dancey. Same goes if you like the likes of Maserati, Tangerine Dream, and the dancefloor filling live shows by CiC keyboardist Jesse's new unit Jonas Reinhardt.
Gift Givers comes packaged in a brightly colored "eco-wallet" recycled cardboard sleeve thing, and was released by the same label, Kill Shaman, who brought us Animism by Expo '70, and that recent Night Control disc, fyi.
MPEG Stream: "Gift Givers"
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Cake"
MPEG Stream: "Pedal Nervous Sensation"

CRIME IN CHOIR s/t (Omnibus) cd 13.98
A sticker on the shrinkwrap proclaims "founding members of At The Drive-In and Hella", but don't go buying it just because of that fact. Really now, this sounds very little like either band (well, maybe they lean towards a more subdued Hella... which sounds like quite a nice thing to me). This is a half dozen very well-executed post-rock instrumentals that are both pretty and driving. My ears perked up even more from the third track "Come Here, Raider" and on when the instrumentation and arrangements get a little more fleshed out. Check it out!
RealAudio clip: "Come Here, Raider"
RealAudio clip: "Worldwide CB"

CRIME IN CHOIR The Hoop (Frenetic) cd 13.98
Leaps and bounds from their already impressive self-titled debut from a couple of years ago, Crime In Choir's second full length reveals sharper chops both in composition and musicianship. They've adapted a much more prog aspect into their post rock instrumental sound with definite shades of Goblin. A sophomore success from this mathy, Moogy San Fran quartet, who now have replaced drummer Zach Hill of Hella with drummer Jay Pellici of Dilute and 31 Knots. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Strong Beautiful Suspicious Horse"
MPEG Stream: "Magnetotail"

CRIME IN CHOIR Trumpery Metier (Gold Standard Laboratories) cd 14.98
You could call San Francisco's Crime In Choir a mathy, instrumental post-rock band, sure. But you could also call 'em a kick ass '70s progressive rock act (except that they're not actually from the '70s...). This is certainly prog rock, a la Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes, Goblin, PFM, Le Orme, Soft Machine, Magma, and other greats from the prog past. Definitely a delight for all the prog-fanciers among us here at AQ. We're pretty thrilled with this album, which we couldn't wait to hear after having just seen these guys live, performing in front of a projection of the 1973 Italian art film La Grande Bouffe, providing their own soundtrack to the gustatory grotesquery on screen. So perfect for Crime In Choir's cultivated brand of ripping, groovy bombast. They deliver on record too, this one (their third) being perhaps their best yet! The energetic pulsations of the crack rhythm section -- CiC's latest drummer extraordinaire* is now Tim Soete of The Fucking Champs, and on this album the bass is played by Seth Lorinczi, formerly of The Quails and long before that, the late great DC prog punkers Circus Lupus -- are matched by the mass of keyboards employed by Kenny Hopper and Jesse Reiner [now of Jonas Reinhardt], along with the guitar of Jarrett Wrenn and Matt Waters' sax. Those synths are sometimes sinuous and sizzling, sometimes spacey and soaring, and ever present. And while we know the use of saxophone is a deal-breaker for some folks, Crime In Choir's tastefully restrained saxophonist eschews any smooth jazz cheesiness, either riffing brassily along with the keys and guitar, or supplying spiraling, screeching solos with gusto (when necessary, which is not that often). Definite points for non-sucky use of saxophone in other words! Furthermore, while their '70s prog lovin' sound is right on, so is the songwriting. They've managed to hit that sweet spot for instrumental bands, where these songs -could- have singing (they're melodious enough) but don't -need- a vocalist at all. They'll grab you regardless. File somewhere in between your Champs and Zombi albums, nearby to your collection of '70s progsters, and not far from your Citay cd (another excellent San Francisco band of prog revivalists with whom CiC have shared a member or two). Recommended!
*after having Hella's Zach Hill behind the kit on their first album, and 31 Knots' Jay Pellici on their second.
MPEG Stream: "Measure Of A Master"
MPEG Stream: "Complete Upsmanship"
MPEG Stream: "Land Of Sherry Wine And Spanish Horses"

CRIME IN CHOIR Trumpery Metier (Gold Standard Laboratories) lp 12.98
You could call San Francisco's Crime In Choir a mathy, instrumental post-rock band, sure. But you could also call 'em a kick ass '70s progressive rock act (except that they're not actually from the '70s...). This is certainly prog rock, a la Van Der Graaf Generator, Yes, Goblin, PFM, Le Orme, Soft Machine, Magma, and other greats from the prog past. Definitely a delight for all the prog-fanciers among us here at AQ. We're pretty thrilled with this album, which we couldn't wait to hear after having just seen these guys live, performing in front of a projection of the 1973 Italian art film La Grande Bouffe, providing their own soundtrack to the gustatory grotesquery on screen. So perfect for Crime In Choir's cultivated brand of ripping, groovy bombast. They deliver on record too, this one (their third) being perhaps their best yet! The energetic pulsations of the crack rhythm section -- CiC's latest drummer extraordinaire* is now Tim Soete of The Fucking Champs, and on this album the bass is played by Seth Lorinczi, formerly of The Quails and long before that, the late great DC prog punkers Circus Lupus -- are matched by the mass of keyboards employed by Kenny Hopper and Jesse Reiner, along with the guitar of Jarrett Wrenn and Matt Waters' sax. Those synths are sometimes sinuous and sizzling, sometimes spacey and soaring, and ever present. And while we know the use of saxophone is a deal-breaker for some folks, Crime In Choir's tastefully restrained saxophonist eschews any smooth jazz cheesiness, either riffing brassily along with the keys and guitar, or supplying spiraling, screeching solos with gusto (when necessary, which is not that often). Definite points for non-sucky use of saxophone in other words! Furthermore, while their '70s prog lovin' sound is right on, so is the songwriting. They've managed to hit that sweet spot for instrumental bands, where these songs -could- have singing (they're melodious enough) but don't -need- a vocalist at all. They'll grab you regardless. File somewhere in between your Champs and Zombi albums, nearby to your collection of '70s progsters, and not far from your Citay cd (another excellent San Francisco band of prog revivalists with whom CiC have shared a member or two). Recommended!
*after having Hella's Zach Hill behind the kit on their first album, and 31 Knots' Jay Pellici on their second.
MPEG Stream: "Measure Of A Master"
MPEG Stream: "Complete Upsmanship"
MPEG Stream: "Land Of Sherry Wine And Spanish Horses"

CRIPPLE BASTARDS Misantropo A Senso Unico (Deaf American) cd 11.98
The misanthropic Italian grindcore legends, the one and only Cripple Bastards, return with a brand-new full-length (no, not another singles collection!) on former Brutal Truth drummer Rich Hoak's Deaf American imprint. Giulio the Bastard, Alberto the Crippler, and the rest of the band continue their career of negative, brutal, political grind, as always spitting out short blasts of fast, noisy punk metal with secret prog-rock leanings, recorded raw and lo-fi on shitty equipment (but sounding fantastic). There's either 16 or 109 songs on here, depending on how you count the final track "94 x Flashback di Massacro" which is a re-recording of an old 94-track demo tape!
RealAudio clip: "Misantropo A Senso Unico"

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX 200 Tons Of Back Luck (Invada) cd 15.98

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX A Love Of Shared Disasters (Invada) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What might you expect from a band featuring one part Mogwai, one part Electric Wizard, one part Pantheist, one part 3D House Of Beef (as well as maybe a few other random parts)? Most certainly not this. What we expected was some sort of super heavy, ultra dynamic loud-quiet-loud metal thing, but instead what we got was way more interesting. A moody, melancholic, moody, gothy, Victorian doom folk. Tragic Victorian ballads mixed with moody jangle rock dirges. More Decemberists, Black Heart Procession and Nick Cave than anything remotely metal.
From the opening track, a mysterious sort of sea shanty, we knew this was something completely unexpected. Whipping wind, creaking ship's rigging, chant like vocals, almost like Pirate style "yo ho ho"s, the music in the background wheezing and groaning. The perfect intro to a record of dark desolation and old time misery and sadness.
Recorded on a mix of modern gear and actual Victorian era equipment, these songs play out like miniature epics, the vocals world weary, the guitars shuffle and twang, the drums, mostly brushed, skitter along, the melodies minor key and mournful, while all around, strings moan and occasionally soar, and strange voices drift, harmonic shimmers reverberate in the dark, reverb, delay and echo give everything a washed out feel, occasionally the band does actually rock, but even then, it's some strange old fashioned cabaret, still wreathed in dark whir and murky mystery. On close listening, the songs are rife with all manner of strange microscopic sonic details, voices, creaks and groans, short wave radios, monk-like chants, swirling FX... all very haunting and mysterious, epic and dramatic.
Fans of the Decemberists, Black Heart Procession, Woven Hand, Godspeed and other likeminded cinematic miserablists will definitely dig, as will perhaps some of the more adventurous fans of CBP's members' more metallic pedigrees...
MPEG Stream: "Really, How'd It Get This Way?"
MPEG Stream: "The Whistler"
MPEG Stream: "Suppose I Told The Truth"

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX A Love Of Shared Disasters (Invada) 2lp 26.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
What might you expect from a band featuring one part Mogwai, one part Electric Wizard, one part Pantheist, one part 3D House Of Beef (as well as maybe a few other random parts)? Most certainly not this. What we expected was some sort of super heavy, ultra dynamic loud-quiet-loud metal thing, but instead what we got was way more interesting. A moody, melancholic, moody, gothy, Victorian doom folk. Tragic Victorian ballads mixed with moody jangle rock dirges. More Decemberists, Black Heart Procession and Nick Cave than anything remotely metal.
From the opening track, a mysterious sort of sea shanty, we knew this was something completely unexpected. Whipping wind, creaking ship's rigging, chant like vocals, almost like Pirate style "yo ho ho"s, the music in the background wheezing and groaning. The perfect intro to a record of dark desolation and old time misery and sadness.
Recorded on a mix of modern gear and actual Victorian era equipment, these songs play out like miniature epics, the vocals world weary, the guitars shuffle and twang, the drums, mostly brushed, skitter along, the melodies minor key and mournful, while all around, strings moan and occasionally soar, and strange voices drift, harmonic shimmers reverberate in the dark, reverb, delay and echo give everything a washed out feel, occasionally the band does actually rock, but even then, it's some strange old fashioned cabaret, still wreathed in dark whir and murky mystery. On close listening, the songs are rife with all manner of strange microscopic sonic details, voices, creaks and groans, short wave radios, monk-like chants, swirling FX... all very haunting and mysterious, epic and dramatic.
Fans of the Decemberists, Black Heart Procession, Woven Hand, Godspeed and other likeminded cinematic miserablists will definitely dig, as will perhaps some of the more adventurous fans of CBP's members' more metallic pedigrees...
MPEG Stream: "Really, How'd It Get This Way?"
MPEG Stream: "The Whistler"
MPEG Stream: "Suppose I Told The Truth"

CRISIS Holocaust Hymns (Apop Records) cd 21.00
One of many bands to call themselves Crisis, the British punk Crisis formed in 1977, forging alliances with Rock Against Racism and the Socialist Workers Party. Thus, Crisis established themselves as one of the earliest punk bands to use a musical platform as a vehicle to promote a leftist agenda. Musically, Crisis focused on the tight aggressive punk blueprint already established by The Buzzcocks and Warsaw; and the band broadcast their political messages through rudimentary / easily-decipherable lyrics in the form of anthemic proclamations delivered with an urgent cockney sneer. Over their brief four year career, Crisis' principal songwriters Douglas Pearce and Tony Wakeford (both of whom went on to form Death In June in 1981 with Wakeford later founding Sol Invictus) became disillusioned with the Trotskyist agenda they first espoused and acquired positions that would be more aligned with the aesthetics of anarchism. Holocaust Hymns compiles all of the tracks from their Hymns Of Faith mini LP as well as the tracks from their Peel Sessions and their three singles. Holocaust Hymns is a very important punk document that acts as a curious counterpoint to the bands that came after Crisis, most notably Death In June who has nurtured much controversy around their neo-Nazi imagery.
MPEG Stream: "Holocaust"
MPEG Stream: "White Youth"
MPEG Stream: "Frustration"

CRISPY AMBULANCE The Plateau Phase (LTM / Factory) cd 18.98
Thanks to a fateful Joy Division gig, where Crispy Ambulance singer Alan Hempsal successfully and secretly subbed for a missing Ian Curtis, The Ambulance seemed to be cursed with a reputation as pale imitatiors of Joy Division. But while at moments, Crispy Ambulance *are* dead ringers for Joy Division's post-punk pop, they were even more adept at crafting truly creepy gloom and haunting sound sculptures. At their best, they could create unsettling almost sci-fi soundscapes, and at their worst they could hold their own with their early 80's cronies Joy Division, In Camera, Wolfgang Press, etc. Totally excellent.

CRISPY AMBULANCE The Plateau Phase ( Drastic Plastic) lp 13.98
This long time aQ fave now reissued on vinyl!!
Thanks to a fateful Joy Division gig, where Crispy Ambulance singer Alan Hempsal successfully and secretly subbed for a missing Ian Curtis, The Ambulance seemed to be cursed with a reputation as pale imitatiors of Joy Division. But while at moments, Crispy Ambulance *are* dead ringers for Joy Division's post-punk pop, they were even more adept at crafting truly creepy gloom and haunting sound sculptures. At their best, they could create unsettling almost sci-fi soundscapes, and at their worst they could hold their own with their early '80s cronies Joy Division, In Camera, Wolfgang Press, etc. Totally excellent. Still sounds as fantastic as ever!

CRISTINA Doll In The Box (Ze Records) cd 16.98
Yup, things tend to come around full circle, don't they? Cristina and her then husband Michael Zilka conspired to cash in on the whole disco craze of the late '70s but with a biting sense of sarcasm and a smarty-pants arrogance. With Zilka founding the now legendary Ze Records and Cristina releasing the 'artfully dumb' single "Disco Clone" in 1978, the two certainly started out on the right foot. Jump forward some twenty-five years later with a post-punk / avant-disco revival exploding thanks to the likes of the LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture, and the rest of the DFA line-up, and Cristina and her now ex-husband Michael Zilka have conspired to cash in once again with the reissue of her first two albums. Doll In The Box was originally an eponymous LP on Ze, released back in 1980 and was produced by August Darnell (better known as the ringleader of Kid Creole and the Coconuts). Perhaps we're too familiar with the more-clever-than-thou sensibility of LCD Soundsystem's "Losing My Edge" that ripples throughout the entire post-disco retread, but Cristina's Doll In The Box sounds like a pretty straight forward disco album. Mind you, it's a mighty fine disco album with the rhythmic mono-pulse augmented by minimalist barrio swings, goof-ball covers (e.g. "Drive My Car" by The Beatles with Cristina affecting the air-headed breathiness of Marilyn Monroe), and lots of big, brash, baroque string section frilliness.
MPEG Stream: "Blame It On Disco"
MPEG Stream: "Disco Clone"

CRISTINA Sleep It Off (Ze Records) cd 16.98

CROCK Grok (Jackpot) cd 13.98
When we first heard about a new band featuring Sam Coomes of Quasi and Spencer Seim of Hella, we were definitely curious, but to be honest we weren't expecting anything this amazing and weird. We figured on some fuzzy jangle, some poppy hooks, which are definitely present here, but this is WAY removed from your typical indie rock record. In fact the record opener, "No More Dumb Fun", starts things off with a blown out impossibly distorted buzzy main riff that sounds more like synth than guitar, the drums downright groove, which had us imagining an indie rock version of Justice or some Ed Banger outfit making a record for Matador, but then Coomes' vocals come in, and the sound is transformed into some sort of weird twisted super psychedelic, druggy and delirious take on indie rock. That opener adds all manner of swirling effects, some strange industrial banging off in the distance, Coomes' vox wrapped in echo and distortion, the result hews closer to something like Black Moth Super Rainbow or The Flaming Lips, but even more twisted and noisy and fantastically fuzzed out. In fact if you've heard about the soon to be released collaboration between The Flaming Lips and Lightning Bolt, it seems Crock have beaten those guys the punch, cuz this has the same sort of fuzz drenched psychedelia, spastic sputtery stuttery rhythms and studio-as-mad-scientist's-laboratory production, but Coomes injects the proceedings with plenty of pop hookery, Beatles-esque at times, but also recalling old school Northwestern outfit Pond, albeit utterly deconstructed.
"Corpsecrystal Mountain" dials back some of the fuzz and dips a big toe into some serious indie rock, but again it's all tweaked and twisted, the drums weirdly recorded, again super groovy, the music a tangle of synthy squiggles, with some wild progged out lo-fi weirdness that sounds more like some warped bedroom experiment that an indie rock super group, which is precisely why this is so good. "Nutritional Beast" might be our favorite, sounding like a weirdo electronic indie rock fuzzpop combo doing their best Carpenter / Goblin, but failing brilliantly, and coming up with one of THEE fuzziest, hookiest jams EVER. "Where We Get Off" is classic pop ballad, done Crock style, Queen by way of Torche, epic and soaring and dramatic, but also pretty much perfect pop. While "Bad Moves" opens like "Tom Sawyer" before stumbling into a lurching fuzz drenched dirge, and "Eat Your Hat Out" is total modern day indie pop fuzz prog, with tangled melodies, soaring vox, everything warm and washed out, gauzy and dreamily druggy. And so it goes, the whole record, a bombastic and blissed out, lo-fi psychedelic pop experiment that has yielded one of the most fantastically fun records in recent memory.
The rhythms drive everything, sometimes sounding electronic, always groovy, and hypnotic, but often exploding into bombastic Bonham style rib cage rattling pound, which is where the Hella really starts to show (and where the Lightning Bolt comparison stems from). And unlike most 'indie rock', where it's the jangly guitar that drives the proceedings, almost nothing here sounds like a proper guitar, whatever riffs there are, end up twisted and FX drenched, blown out and gloriously fried, those guitars (if they're even guitars?) blur and distort until they sound like fuzzed out analog synths, and if they're in fact synths, they're about as in-the-red and fucked up as they can get and still remain melodic, then the vocals, which while occasionally surfacing as a proper croon, spend most of their time dripping with weird effects, buried in the mix, drifting amidst the sound, hazy and druggy, it's a pretty irresistible combo, one that definitely straddles the line between indie rock and full on noise rock, in fact we'd probably qualify this as noise rock if it weren't so warm and melodic and dreamily fuzzy. But it IS noisy, and loud, and kaleidoscopic, and weird as fuck, but somehow still crazy catchy. The perfect mad scientist fuzz pop concoction, and quickly becoming one of our new favorite records.
MPEG Stream: "No More Dumb Fun"
MPEG Stream: "Bad Moves"
MPEG Stream: "Eat Your Hat Out"
MPEG Stream: "Different Strokes"
MPEG Stream: "None Came Back"