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The Chrome Cranks “Dead Cool”

sfilzen — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 19:24:17 +0000

The Chrome Cranks “Dead Cool” 1995. Crypt Records. Dirty, noisy garage punk blues, Dead Cool is the Chrome Cranks second LP. Chrome Cranks’ lineup included two Jon Spencer collaborators: Jerry Teel on bass (Honeymoon Killers, The Work Dogs) and Bob Bert on drums (Pussy Galore and more recently Jon Spencer’s HITMakers); Dead Cool was Bert’s first recording with the Cranks. It’s an ass-shaker of an album: raw, nasty (in the best way), swampy, a bit bat-shit crazy and, yes, dead cool. My top track is the garage-rock ripper “Desperate Friend” which had me dancing at my desk, followed closely by “Down So Low” (for the bat-shit crazy). “Bloodshot Eye” has a killer bass line hook, creepy lo-fi vocals (Peter Aaron) and a solid, relentless beat. All track on Dead Cool are originals except for the final track, a cover of the 1966 Yardbirds “Lost Woman” which keeps the bass and adds more than a little raw punk edge to the 60’s blues rocker.

Not surprisingly there isn’t a ton of live video footage of the Cranks out there, but I did find a video from ’09 which includes “Desperate Friend” about 3 minutes in:

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Chrome Cranks “Chrome Cranks”

sfilzen — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 19:15:14 +0000

Chrome Cranks “Chrome Cranks” 1994. PCP Entertainment (Matador Records distribution). Noisy punk blues featuring former Jon Spencer collaborator Jerry Teel (Honeymoon Killers). Current(ish) and frequent(ish) Spencer collaborator Bob Bert (Pussy Galore, Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers, plus Sonic Youth) joined a year after Chrome Cranks release, in 1995 (the first gig of an earlier iteration of Chrome Cranks was as an opener for Pussy Galore.) There’s a good, brief bio of the band here (though hard to read) that lists the history and chronology of the band and its members. The s/t album was Chrome Cranks first full-length; it’s loud and lo-fi, rattly and rocking and, though formed in metropolis Cincinnati in ’88 and stationed in uber-urban NYC during the 90’s, it’s also infused with country blues strumming, some whooping and hollering (see “Driving Bad“) giving it a psychobilly bent – the spooky “Eight-Track Mind” would feel at home on a Cramps album. My top picks are the garagey opener “Dark Room,” the raucous punk’d out “Drag House,” the Hendrix-ish “Doll in a Dress,” plus the ass-shakers “Stuck in a Cave,” “Lo-End Buzz” and the vinyl-only closer “Party’s Over.”

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Chrome Cranks “Love in Exile”

sfilzen — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 21:37:24 +0000

Chrome Cranks “Love in Exile” 1996. Today, June 11th, is Bob Bert’s birthday (b. Robert Bertelli, 1955). Bert drummed for Chrome Cranks, as well as for Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, Knoxville Girls, Jon Spencer and the HITMakers, among many others. Love in Exile was Chrome Cranks’ third and final studio album and also features former Honeymoon Killers’ bassist Jerry Teel along with Cranks founders William Weber and Peter Aaron. Much like Sonic Youth, Honeymoon Killers and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, it’s blues-punked noise rock, with a dash of psychobilly thrown in for a sound Allmusic labels “sleaze-rock.” There’s a deeply sinister cover of the old traditional tune “See That My Grave is Kept Clean” as well as some sparse – and also sinister – experimental tracks like “Movie Star” and “Curtains for My Baby.” Some of my favorites are the growling blues-exploded “We’re Going Down,” the blues-boogie punk of “Lost Time Blues,” as well as “Hot Blonde Cocktail,” a great screaming ass-shaker that weirdly got a decent amount of airplay on MTV in the mid-90′s.

I saw Bob Bert perform with Jon Spencer last summer, July 2018. His “drum kit” was a refabbed car engine atop a bass drum and hooked onto a trash can; he hit his kit mainly with hammers.

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The Chrome Cranks “Love In Exile”

sfilzen — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 21:12:45 +0000

The Chrome Cranks “Love In Exile” 1996. PCP records. Chrome Cranks third and final studio LP. Dirty punk blues and a “deconstructive bastardization of garage rock,” the Cranks feature founding members Peter Aaron on vocals and guitar and William Weber on guitar as well as former Honeymoon Killers bassist Jerry Teel and Bob Bert, formerly of Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore, on drums.

Love in Exile is lo-fi and sleazy, sort of the sound you hear while in the nasty bathroom of the local dive bar at 1:30 a.m. (granted, it is a very hip dive bar). “Lost Time Blues” is a perfect example of this vibe: churning rhythm, shrieked and strained vocals with an undercurrent of real danger. “See That My Grave is Kept Clean” is a cover of one of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s tunes, recorded in 1927 on Paramount. The Cranks version is dirgey, a Cramps-esque creepy lament, traditional blues deconstructed and then rolled through an ashtray or two.

Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
Well, there’s one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
There’s just one kind of favor I’ll ask of you
You can see that my grave is kept clean

And there’s two white horses following me
And there’s two white horses following me
I got two white horses following me
Waiting on my burying ground

Did you ever hear that coffin’ sound
Have you ever heard that coffin’ sound
Did you ever hear that coffin’ sound
Means another poor boy is under ground

Did you ever hear them church bells tone
Have you ever hear’d them church bells tone
Did you ever hear them church bells tone
Means another poor boy is dead and gone

Well, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
And, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
Well, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
Now I believe what the bible told

There’s just one last favor I’ll ask of you
And there’s one last favor I’ll ask of you
There’s just one last favor I’ll ask of you
See that my grave is kept clean

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