Chrome Cranks
"Darkroom" b/w "Burn Baby Burn" 7" (PCP)
Heavy guitar rock, straight out of the '70s proto-punk scene in Detroit. You're familiar with the reference points by now since hundreds of other bands use them - the Stooges and MC5 primarily. The Cranks extend that tradition into the '90s quite nicely while putting their own bluesy, thrashy spin on it. The flipside sounds like some weirded out, hallucinatory remix of the title cut.
"Dead Cool" CD (Crypt)
I seem to recall really liking a 7" this band put out a while ago, comparing it to bands like the Stooges and the MC5 and ... well, you get the idea. I don't remember what the record was and after listening to this, I sure as fuck don't remember what I saw in it. The 7" was raw, fucked up rock. This is just badly executed T. Rex rip-offs by way of Jon Spencer outtakes, which is to say synonymous with shit. Dead cool? Nope, this is just on ice.