Crawling Chaos
｢Gas Chair｣｢C｣｢Homunculus Equinox｣の3枚に共通して、70年代のフランク・ザッパに通じるような狂気、倒錯、混沌を体現した唸るようなエレキ・ギターは、非日常的で、逆に心地よさを感じます。変拍子ぽいリズム構成と、薄気味悪いサウンドコラージュ、そして、変態的なヴォーカルなどなど、これまた、どれをとっても、逆に心地よいです。｢Gas Chair｣は2004年にLTMレーベルからCD化の際、1980年にFACTRYからリリースされた7インチシングルのSex Machine/Berlinが追加収録されており、特に、このA面のSex Machineは倒錯ギターと変体的ヴォーカルが最高潮に達しており、気が狂うほど、格好良いです。最高です。また、｢Homunculus Equinox｣はFoetus Productsレーベル から1981年にカセットリリースされた音源を、LTMレーベルが2004年に2曲追加収録してCD化再発しています。｢C｣については未CD化です。
Little is known about Crawling Chaos, creators of provocative single Sex Machine released on Factory (Fac 17) in July 1980. According to the label’s January newsletter, the band promised to “open up a new genre of heavy modern. Three short-haired awkward types from Tyneside who are a cross between Status Quo and Orchestral Manoeuvres.”
Perhaps the most memorable Crawling Chaos review followed an appearance at the London showcase organised by Factory at the Moonlight Club in April 1980. Adam Sweeting wrote in NME: “They played so badly for so long that a phone call to McWhirter and his Book of Records would surely have been received favourably. Ineffectual doodlings on guitar and keyboards became ends in themselves. A guest singer stood at the microphone and coughed for several minutes. Nobody danced or even twitched a leg. The bloke at the mixing desk read the Evening Standard and someone next to me asked the time before falling asleep. Anyone who needs this garbage is probably already dead.”
Originally released on Factory Benelux (FACBN 6) in 1982, debut album The Gas Chair still confounds three decades on. Both Factory releases are included on Boutique’s remastered CD. Further tracks from the same sessions make up the second CD set on Boutique, Homunculous Equinox. Each reissue features original album artwork plus sleevenotes.
In addition to their Factory recordings, Crawling Chaos released later albums on their own Foetus Productions imprint:C (1984),Waqqaz (1985)