By Mita Tate

While every other new throwback band is busy trying to re-create Television’s Marquee Moon and Gang of Four’s Entertainment!, two Seattle-based post-punk-obsessed Indie lads have decided to take the road less traveled.

On Plaster Hounds, Chromatics have rid themselves of the dancey, X-Ray Spex-like anthems found on their debut album Chrome Rats vs. Basement Rutz and now feature an adrenaline-addicted sound with macabre, surreal themes-recounting the days when 70s post punks Suicide, Silver Apples and Wire ruled the dank streets of New York City.

This reinvention in sound could be due to the band’s reduction from four to two members-vocalist/guitarist Adam Miller and new bassist/vocalist Nat Sahlstrom. In addition to the turbulent twosome, percussionist Ron Avila adds his lethargic beats to the rhythm section. Miller has grown as a songwriter since his days in The Vogue and Soiled Doves-a band made up of the original members of Chromatics along with Johnny Whitney, the spastic vocalist of famed Artcore band The Blood Brothers.

While none of the songs on Plaster Hounds reaches the sheer intensity of Suicide’s “Frankie Teardrop” or the morose-nature of Silver Apples’ “Dust,” most of the ten songs continue in the same vein and are equally troublesome; and “Monarch” does come pretty close to achieving avant garde future legend status with its Whitehouse-esque belligerent screams and bleak, distant background rhythms. While nothing beats the original, Chromatics’ cover of Silver Apples’ “Program” is possibly as close to perfect as one can get without having Simeon and Dan Taylor there to basically re-record the song for you. Oddly enough, the Chromatics’ version of “Program” sounds as if it were actually recorded in 1968 with more low-level hum and muddy production, unlike the original that sounds much clearer.

The extremely minimalist production of Plaster Hounds adds to its authenticity. Miller’s stoic philosophical ponderings and grating, despondent guitars layered on top of natural, lo-fi discordance make it hard to believe this was recorded just a few months earlier and not over 20 years ago.