THROBBING WITH C AND C

Band: Chris and Cosey.

Personnel: Chris Carter, synthesizer, percussion, guitar, vocals; Cosey Fanni Tutti, synthesizer, vocals.

History: “The Sonny and Cher of the Suicide Set,” as one writer called them, have been making party music for people on heavy tranquilizers ever since their original group, Throbbing Gristle, broke up five years ago. As all card-carrying trendies know, Throbbing Gristle was the prime purveyor of anarchic art-noise in the late ‘70s. The English quartet split into two halves: Genesis P-Orridge and Peter Christopherson forming Psychic TV and Chris and Cosey performing under their names and as the Creative Technology Institute. Under one name or the other, the duo has released eight albums and collaborated on several projects with others (and not just obscure artistes --Eurythmics helped out on one single). This will be Chris and Cosey’s first Los Angeles appearance since Throbbing Gristle played here in 1981.

Sound: Still throbbing after all these years, Chris and Cosey make unnerving music that lulls you into its horrors and black humor with repeating, sometimes even lilting synthesizer patterns. Their albums are the sort that draw raves from rock critics who never take them off the shelf again, but truly delights the few with a fondness for against-the-grain anti-music. If it’s obsessively sinister electronic wallpaper you want, C&C; deliver, creating somewhat calmer bad-dream soundscapes than Throbbing Gristle’s sonic cattle prods. You never know what strange snatches are going to come rushing into the sound mix--from nursery rhymes to fundamentalist sermons--but you can be sure that whatever it is will be repeated until you’re ready to crawl the wall. Just what C&C; are trying to get across remains vague, though the visual effects (including videos) that are supposed to accompany the performance may help make everything perfectly clear.

Show: Friday at the Meltdown.