Album Review: Chain & The Gang - Best Of Crime Rock

With bands such as Nation Of Ulysses, Weird War and The Make-Up, Ian Svenonius has been an underground garage rock provocateur for nearly 30 years.

As Chain & The Gang, he's distilled the essence of what the band does, right down to their bare rhythmic essentials — drums, bass, guitar and vocals. They're a highly economical and effective combo, stripped to simple gang chants, sparse riffs and grooves that snake and pulse with a vaguely sleazy appeal. The remit of the band is a kind of rock'n'roll reverse psychology — Devitalize, Why Not?, I See Progress and others embracing deconstruction with a playful approach to ultimate nihilism. This is primal garage rock with infectious, minimal R&B rhythms and they nail it with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, strut and swagger.