Chain And The Gang – In Cold Blood LP (Sounds Of Subterrania)

I believe that most of our readers will be familiar with the name, such as Ian Svenonious, especially those into Dischord Records releases. The record I would like to talk about today is another recent Sounds Of Subterannia release. The label has again proven the point of being open to almost every music genre, but somehow all their releases could fall under the same branch thanks to the high-quality, ear-appealing packaging. It is all due to the musical knowledge of its owner Gregor Samsa. He fully understands the demands of vinyl collectors, who usually search for eye-peeling packaging and super sound quality. Sounds Of Subterrania is all about that audio/visual experience, which is presented with this release as well.

Ian Svenonious is famous for being a prolific artist and member of the Nation Of Ulysses, The Make-Up, Wierd War, Cupid Car Club, David Candy, XYZ, Escape-ism, Too Much, but lately, he’s mostly active with Chain And The Gang. This particular vinyl record is a reissue of the third full-length album, In Cool Blood, released previously by K Records in 2012. Still, this reissue comes with the same packaging style as Can You Dig It? by Sons Of Cyrus and S/T LP by The50kaitenz, and it supports Suspense audio/visual experience if you possess their vinyl-video phono pre-amplifier. I assume this will become a tradition at Sounds Of Subterrania since all of their latest releases support this advanced option. The best part about this collaboration between Ian Svenonious and Sounds Of Subterrania is that In Cold Blood is also the third vinyl record in the reissue series. Therefore, you can grab Down With Liberty and Music’s Not For Everyone at their webstore.

What I love about this reissue is how the packaging works with the visual aesthetics of the release. I would never realize this was a reissue without previous knowledge about Chain And The Gang. That’s how Sounds Of Subterrania works. They took all the audio and visual elements and made it even better than before. Still, this reissue contains completely different cover artwork than the first pressing, but somehow it works a lot better than the original. Musicwise, the sound of the vinyl record is more than superb. For those who’re not familiar with the music of the Chain And The Gang, you can’t classify their music with a singular music genre. There’s a lot of things going on throughout the entire album, but the first thing you’ll notice is the sheer dominance of the old-school rock’n’roll sound. However, there are some other ingredients involved from scratch to finish. You may stumble upon all forms of rock music, such as rock’n’roll, hard rock, garage rock, pub rock, alternative, indie rock, noise rock, art-punk, punk rock, and post-punk.

It’s nearly mindblowing how the band merged all these subgenres of rock music into a giant slab of harmonious noise. Nevertheless, Chain And The Gang are handling the experimental side of their music with such ease. The group tends to experiment with sound but keeps every experimentation dosed and subtle comparing to their rock’n’roll side. The main focus is on the profoundly stable rhythm section and catchy basslines, while the guitar serves progressive bluesy, rock’n’roll, funky chord progressions, and accentuations. The entire album resonates with the 50s and 60s rock’n’roll atmosphere, and Chain And The Gang retains that vibe during the album. It’s also interesting how the group equally focuses on female and male lead vocals, so In Cold Blood doesn’t sound like another bland male-fronted rock band. This full-length will be right up your alley if you’re looking out for cleverly assembled rock’n’roll music. Head over to Sounds Of Subterrania for more detailed information about ordering.