The Chrome Cranks

It's not often you find genres such as Old-School Punk, Garage Rock and Hardcore Punk crossing paths, but New York's Chrome Cranks do just that. Musically, they stomp through muddy, reverb-tinged, Cramps-like chords -- vocals leap from a creeping, crouching position to high-strung screaming, like a jack-in-the-box exploding in your face. The Chrome Cranks are as much about atmosphere as they are music, creating an inescapable feeling of paranoia with guitars that crash head-on into the controlled spasms of the rhythm section. Listening to these bombardments of noise is not unlike standing in the middle of loud and hectic Times Square at 4:30 on Friday afternoon.