I fuggin’ love Chrome. Their best known and most lauded period—the “Edge/Creed” era that produced the five albums, from Alien Soundtracks to 3rd from the Sun—is the kind of good that’ll leave those inclined to listen to ‘em slack-jawed in awe (for a quick, cost effective overview of this period, I recommend the one-disc Anthology 1979-1983 CD and decide if you wanna venture deeper down the rabbit hole). Theirs is a sound that manages to be all over the map influence-wise—equal parts punk, rock, metal, industrial, drone, psychedelia, space rock, soundscapes, and so on—and at the same time result in something that is both singular and cohesive, an almost perfect amalgamation of all of its parts that is heavy, playful, hypnotic, oddly funky in places, and just downright weird. Things got a bit dicey after primary progenitors Helios Creed and Damon Edge parted ways and each fronted separate subsequent incarnations of the band, and the two never managed a planned reunion before Edge died in 1995. Between this and last year’s release, a stunner of a collection of unreleased tracks recorded during the band’s most artistically prolific period entitled Half Machine from the Sun: The Lost Tracks from ‘79-’80, Creed has brought the band full circle. Feel It like a Scientist is prime Chrome—odd and oddly catchy, rife with experimentation and seasoned noise mongering, uncompromising and yet still engaging, and true to the initial lineup’s ability to play music that continues to be several decades ahead of its time. As we hit the mid-point of 2014, I’m gonna safely bet this’ll make it onto several “best of” lists come the end of the year, including any such list culled by this writer. Highly recommended.
–jimmy (Chrome)