Chyna
Highway 9 EP
Gotham
A really fine little collection of four songs that’s a precursor to one incredible album I hope will soon come out. It sounds to me like Chyna is experimenting, as usual, with more electronics, along the lines of melding Kraftwerk’s Autobahn days with their own unique blend of lonely keyboards and downright strange “horns” (I got that off “The Light” and “Lost Man”). Frontman Steve Zing (will we see him on the upcoming and much-heralded Samhain reunion?) has also been experimenting with his voice, at times he’s a Peter Murphy impersonator (“Don’t Look Back”) at other times he sounds like a robust Dave Vanian (“Lost Man”).”Highway 9” is a fine song, with a rich chorus and some deep, dark, mesmerizing keyboards, which is the trademark of Chyna.
Gotham Records, P.O. Box 948, Lodi, NJ 07644; http://www.chyna.net