Half Machine Lip Moves / Alien Soundtracks

Among the important groups that wrote the history of alternative or underground music in the '70s and ’80s, San Francisco’s Chrome have often been praised but also overlooked in comparison to many lesser lights. By the time of these sessions, Damon Edge and Helios Creed were no longer the only ones who'd found the next steps beyond Iggy & The Stooges. Alien Soundtracks broke Chrome through to the cognoscenti, and 1979’s Half Machine Lip Moves signaled they were here to stay. After Edge’s death in the mid-'90s, Creed took over the group’s legacy and eventually gained control of these completed sessions between Half Machine and 1980’s Red Exposure. The discovery is quite a shock, as is the catchy pop-like quality of some material. “Anything,” for example, sounds like a blueprint for David Bowie, and “Something Rhythmic (I Can’t Wait)” is so remarkably accessible that it could’ve been a hit single. “The Inevitable” is a psychedelic space piece that sounds like Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine were taking notes.