China Gate was the second studio album by the Boston band Cul de Sac. It followed their debut, ECIM and their next album, I Don't Want to Go to Bed, which was a collection of songs from their rehearsals. Some of these songs beginnings date back to 1991, before their debut was released, including earlier versions of "Doldrums" and "...his teeth got lost in the mattress" were released on 7" in 1992.

From The Wire:

Massachusetts quartet Cul de Sac use rock as a vehicle for improvisation, well aware that the results are still essentially rock music: they're a group, playing guitar, bass, drums and keyboards, after all. Critics have attempted to pin Krautrock credentials onto nearly every rock outfit that improvises these days, but in Cul de Sac's case they just about stick - although Can, circa Monster Movie, are about the only German group whose influence is apparent here.

There's a lot of structure in Cul de Sac's instrumentals and the elements are more closely allied to the harsh romanticism of early Pere Ubu - Glenn Jones's guitar, for example. He's an excellent player, allying a Tom Herman-like plangency with a space-surf/psychedelic feel. Without wishing to exhaust the Ubu connection, Robin Amos's antediluvian synths spiral uncontrollably into the music in the same way that Allen Ravenstine's scribbled all over Ubu's The Modem Dance - like interference surrounding an untunable radio station.

China Gate is the group's third LP and is a lot more satisfying than its predecessor / Don't Want To Go To Bed, whose aircraft-hangar cacophony pushed lo-fi to its limits. Here they play with open spaces giving themselves room to explore the dynamics of the material. Importantly, the players are good enough to attune to an atmosphere rather than just letting rip over a backbeat. Very 'composed' pieces like "Utopia Parkway" mix with the muted, sparse dialogues of "Fourth Eye" and the sonic action-painting of "Teeth", where synths froth poisonously, like spume blown from the waves of a polluted sea. Cul de Sac don't always hit the mark, but crucially, they always hit something, and hint at some other, alien realm. That's more than good enough. - Mike Barnes 6/1996

From Allmusic:

Beginning and almost ending with an interpretation of the title track, a lesser known collaboration from the mid-century musical figures Victor Young and Harold Adamson, China Gate, edited down from one lengthy recording session, finds Cul de Sac fully coming into its own. Smack-dab in the middle of a post-rock craze which the band itself had no real part in or immediate affinity for, the quartet's combination of artistic inspirations from around the world into an at-once dreamy and energetic series of compositions won it long-due attention. Each of the members' specific talents get a chance to shine, all without seeming like a series of solo spots or showboating on their part. "Sakhalin" is one excellent example, with Jones and Amos trading off guitar and synth pieces in the best jazz tradition as Fujiwara and Proudman lay down a steady, swinging rhythm. Top that off with a bit of studio chatter after the song ends about the meaning of the title, and the feeling is of a band at once serious and relaxed about what they do -- a good balance that continues throughout.

Everything from queasily disturbing synth and electronic lines from Amos to unaccompanied drumming from Proudman goes into the mix, the feeling being like an open-ended journey through a mystic mental landscape. One sign of the band's abilities lies in how it can tackle both loud and soft material with the same evocative grasp, as the quiet but never evanescent "James Coburn" demonstrates, building up just enough, but no more, for its ending. Other high points include Jones' chiming, almost rollicking guitar work on "Doldrums," Fujiwara's lovely bass on "Hemispheric Events Command," which stays just enough to the fore as the rest of the band kicks in, and the lengthy explorations of "The Fourth Eye." - Ned Raggett