Crash Worship

San Diego's Crash Worship have existed since the late 80s, bringing their unique variety of percussive industrial noise to the public both through their beautiful recordings and their stunningly-powerful live shows. The band was founded in 1986 by percussionists Markus Wolff and Simon Cheffins as a purely studio project, but eventually, their live shows would grow to eclipse their recorded output. The membership expanded to include Nadia Hagen, Ryan Jencks, Dreiky Caprice, Jeff Mattson, JXL (Jason Xavier Lane), "Fat" Jack Torino, Ryan Jencks, Rick Froberg (of Drive Like Jehu), Aaron Montaigne (of Antioch Arrow), and others. Early on, Crash Worship released a number of cassettes and vinyl EPs on their own Alarma label, including the Crash Worship THIS cassette and the essential Whatsoever Thy Hand Findeth... 12" EP. Their first CD was iEspontaneo!, released in 1991 on Charnel Music. In 1992, British label Cold Spring released the Asesinos CD, which compiled remixed and remastered versions of the band's favorite tracks from their cassettes and vinyl releases. After touring the U.S. several times, the band's first "true" album of studio recordings has been released, Triple Mania II, by Charnel Music. The first edition of the CD was packaged in a special deluxe folder with copper on the front and inside, screen-printed in full color. A European edition was released by Enemy Productions of Germany in different packaging; the European edition is in a jewel box with a transparent insert and tray card printed in full-color. But oh, those live shows. A Crash Worship concert might begin with the band entering the venue from the street, pushing its way through the audience with mobile drum kits and fire dancers, then assaulting the spectators with strobe lights, fake (or possibly real) blood, wine, whipped cream, ice cubes, smoke, green Jello, small fireworks and god knows what else. Two de facto frontmen, JXL and Fat Jack Torino, served occasionally as vocalists but mainly as “audience manipulators,” running through the crowd to hand out little gifts (fruit, hand percussion, etc.), exhort the wallflowers to get off their asses and dance, and rub various viscous substances on the half-naked bodies of any willing (or sometimes unwilling) participants. People got naked, people got dirty, people got injured. Mostly, the barriers between audience and performer broke down to the point where nearly everyone there felt like they were not so much at a show as participating in some kind of ancient ritual. “I reverted to a PRIMAL state,” is how one witness described it. Whether you believe that or not, it’s pretty clear that a Crash Worship show was a totally unique experience. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.