Systems of Romance

Today’s band was so truly innovative that most of their output sounds futuristic and ahead of its time even today…

Formed in San Francisco under the pretenses of making ‘scary, funny music,’ Chrome was created by a drummer/synth player and a lone guitarist in 1976. Though the band would start as a straightforward synth-driven psychedelic project, their music would quickly take a turn for the more experimental and strange as the band shifted lineups after their debut. Over the course of four years, the band, (mainly) consisting of Helios Creed and Damon Edge, would release a slew of albums, their development accelerated by their extremely prolific nature. Their songs were part science fiction epics, part pre-punk fury, and mostly deconstructed experimentation.

This short incarnation of the band would serve as a blueprint for the upcoming post-punk and industrial movements, Chrome joining the ranks of early innovators Suicide, Silver Apples, and Throbbing Gristle. When the band split in 1983, Damon Edge relocated to Europe and continued on under the same name, releasing records consistently until 1995, when he died of heart failure in Los Angeles. Upon Damon’s death, Helios reformed the band out of tribute, carrying on sporadically with new and original collaborators both live and in the studio.

Here’s two tracks I’ve uploaded from the original incarnation of the band. The first is a more rare but solid track, released in a more widespread form via recent compilations of the band’s earlier material, and the second is the lead-off track from their 1977 record Alien Soundtracks.

download Chrome- ‘In a Dream’
download Chrome- ‘Chromosome Damage’

and for your futuristic, acid-loving viewing pleasure, click below to watch the (very A Clockwork Orange-esque) video for the 1980 single ‘New Age.’

Most of their recorded output is extremely difficult to get a hold of, outside of anthologies and used bins. However, according to their official site, three early records have been re-released and remastered. For more information on all of this as well as more on the band, please click below:

Official Chrome site
Chrome 1979-1983 Anthology on Amazon

This entry was posted on August 29, 2007 at 3:56 pm and is filed under 1970s, 1980s, chrome, experimental, industrial, noise, san francisco, synth . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.