In the nearly fifteen years since Cincinnati’s The Chrome Cranks last released an album, the noise rock landscape has undergone some seismic changes. Like Swans before them, the band has seen its contemporaries and followers alike fall by the wayside and returned to help fill the void. The honor of continuing The Cranks’ legacy lies in the capable hands of Kevin McMahon, the producer/engineer of the Swans’ reunion album, My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, and (my top album of 2010) Titus Andronicus‘ The Monitor. The results are filthy and loud. Rock music these days is so homogenized, mostly missing any edge to speak of. Ain’t No Lies has it in spades. “I’m Trash,” is vintage Cranks and a track noise descendents Clockcleaner would have been proud of. Peter Aaron’s voice is as vital as ever. His and William Weber’s guitar sound is tinny and awesome. The first third of the record just beats you like a blunt instrument.
Things get bluesy but no less nasty on “Star To Star,”. “Broken-Hearted King,” features some nifty slide action with a Sonny Sharrock sounding outro. The last third picks up again nicely as Bob Bert (nice to hear him again, by the way) lays down a surf beat on the excellent “Black Garage Door,”. The album finishes up with its heaviest, most unrelenting track in “Lover Of The Bayou”, leaving the biggest beating for last. It fades out as your ears bleed out. Not satisfied, the song comes back to finish you off. Ain’t No Lies In Blood proves there’s still plenty of lead left in The Chrome Cranks’ pencils.
