Crash Course in Science

Crash Course in Science are a pioneering minimal synth trio from Philadelphia. Their inventive, noisy electropunk songs have been a significant influence on the electroclash scene and numerous left-field techno and electronic acts. They briefly existed for a few years during the late '70s and early '80s, and only released two EPs before disbanding. Decades later, after their music had developed a cult following, they re-formed and issued Near Marineland, a full-length recorded in 1981. A second album titled Situational Awareness appeared in 2017. The band was formed in 1979 by lead vocalist Dale Feliciello, Mallory Yago, and Michael Zodorozny. Inspired by performance art and the punk scene, they began to write quirky songs about household items, utilizing extremely rudimentary drum machines, toy instruments, and kitchen appliances. The group's debut release, the 7" EP "Cakes in the Home," appeared on Go Go Records in 1979; the record was given a U.K. release the following year, but with the silly, appliance-abusing "Kitchen Motors" as the A-side. In 1981, the group released the four-song EP Signals from Pier Thirteen on Press Records. The band performed numerous concerts around the New York and Philadelphia areas, and appeared on the New Jersey-based cult television program The Uncle Floyd Show several times. They recorded a full-length entitled Near Marineland in 1981, but the album wasn't mixed or released at the time, and the group became inactive. Over the years, Crash Course in Science's tracks became cult classics among techno and electro DJs, helping to influence the early-2000s electroclash scene and bands such as Adult. Terence Fixmer's labels Planete Rouge and From Jupiter released remix 12"s of the trio's songs "Cardboard Lamb" and "Flying Turns," including remixes from Vitalic, Fixmer, and CCIS themselves. In 2009, the German label Vinyl-On-Demand released a box set including both of the band's EPs, their fully mixed album, live recordings, rehearsals, and demos. The group became an active performing unit again, playing at small venues and galleries in America as well as festivals across Europe. In 2011, the Miami-based IDM label Schematic issued Signals from Pier Thirteen and Near Marineland digitally. San Francisco-based Dark Entries gave Signals its first stand-alone vinyl reissue in 2014, and two years later the label released "Jump Over Barrels" (originally from Near Marineland) as a 12" single, including early versions of the song as well as a remix by Tadd Mullinix under his Charles Manier guise. In 2017, Crash Course in Science's full-length Situational Awareness was released by the Dutch label Electronic Emergencies. Dark Entries reissued Near Marineland on vinyl, with several previously unreleased tracks, in 2024.
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