Formed by Simon Bonney when he was only 16, Crime & The City Solution overlapped significantly with the Birthday Party and, like them, relocated to Berlin and helped define the elegant, decadent rock sound of that city in the late 80s.
Not all the group’s former members are still with us – Roland S Howard and Chrislo Haas have both passed away – but among the old guard reassembled for American Twilight are Bronywn Adams on violin, Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke on guitar, and Bonney himself.
The album is an unapologetic reminder of better times – on Goddess it’s as if the Wall has been re-erected, smoking is positively encouraged in bars, and post-punk/avant goth, though yellowed and loudly decaying, is not yet extinct. Sometimes, as on Domina, the mood is almost singalong, but much of the album, including the title track, is sublime, still in ceaseless pursuit of the ghosts of rock’n’roll.
