Velvet Chrome is Frank Ouellette and Jane L. Kasowicz. In my opinion they are their own little White Stripes duo. You might know Frank from his moniker Hobo Cubes and the label Hobo Cult. This is way darker, messier, and more disorientating than any of his work as Hobo Cubes though. Anthology is a collection of previously released tracks on Dub Ditch Picnic. Extreme electrified freak folk. Bizarro echo bounces off the walls and pelts you with guitar and vocal reverb. It shifts your world around and there’s no way to tell if you’re standing on the ceiling upside down or if you’re right side up. Gritty and raw, each track is performed with shameless execution. Outsider technique and one-of-a-kind creativity. Each track collectively links together in some odd tension that balances rebellious indie rock, drone, stoner, and noise. You never know where each track is going to drop you off next. You could be at a carnival funhouse, a dark basement with your buddies, a strange room that is somewhere between familiar and unknown, a maze without end, or even your own casket waiting to be buried alive. These are all the different sensations, situations, and settings in which you might find yourself, I know I did. A little unsettling at times. The sometimes shrill female cries and eerie ghostly howls don’t help to lighten the mood any. I’ll give VC this though, I never got bored. They have a way of keeping your interest with their suspenseful bewitchment. The rhythm can make things very tense at times. Fantastic release demonstrating that Ouellette is anything but a one-trick-pony. He makes manifest to us that there’s a lot more in that brain of his than he’s let on with Hobo Cubes. Edition of 125 c-50 tapes.
