Crash Course in Science

Post Punk/Minimal Synth band formed in 1979 in Philadelphia.
The band members,, and, met while attending art school. They began to experiment with crude electronics and off-beat writing. CCIS avoids conventional instrumentation by using toy instruments and kitchen appliances to augment the distorted guitar, drums and synthesized beats.
Their first single, Cakes In The Home (US 1979) (opens in a new tab) was released in 1979 and their 4-song 12" EP Signals From Pier Thirteen in 1981. Pier 13 was an abandoned coal-loading pier along the Delaware River near where CCIS rehearsed. The band went there often and was inspired by the huge silent machinery, shapes, shadows, ghosts and debris. The songs 'Cardboard Lamb' and 'Flying Turns' quickly became club favorites during the early ‘80s. This EP's raw, percussive sound influenced both techno and industrial music in later years. CCIS feel a strong connection to Throbbing Gristle, although they consider themselves as working in a parallel universe rather than being influenced by them.