CROWS - Is It Better?

 

1. Who are CROWS? 

CROWS are a post-punk band from North London, England. They have been making music since 2013. Their debut single Pray (2015) was a blistering belter; dark and menacing, faintly redolent of the Jesus and Mary Chain and The Stooges while exuding more violence than they ever possessed. It remains one of my favorite songs to this day.

CROWS have recorded two albums and Is It Better? (Sept, 2024) is the third single from their third album Reason Enough (Sept, 2024).

2. What kind of song is Is It Better? 

Is It Better? is a completely different beast to Pray. The sound is British indie pop/post-punk both the old (The Courteeners, Bloc Party, and Interpol - yes, I know) and the older (Suede, Pulp, and Blur). Is it Better? is a catchy song with a melancholic heart that sounds like middle England. It's nice. It throws a few feeble punches out of habit more than maliciousness and is the sound of a man getting older and less rough around the edges. The sound of a band evolving. The bass is catchy, bouncing along faster than an Eskimo's bum making love in the snow, while the guitar hints at internal anguish. Is It Better? isn't better than the ferocious bangers that CROWS have in their back catalogue but it isn't worse either.

3. Who do CROWS sound like? 

Interpol, Fontaines D.C., and The Horrors. 

4. Which bands have influenced CROWS?

Joy Division, Public Image Limited, and IDLES.  

5. What have the cut and paste bandits said about CROWS music?

"The most melodic, hook-filled and accessible sounding record of their career" - Louder Sound. 

"CROWS have always been a band who do things differently" - N.M.E. 

"Exemplary modern punk" - Far Out Magazine. 

"Well, I need a break from my overcrowded mind,

I've been leading myself down a dark and silent line,

Well there's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, 

Nowhere to turn, nothing to find, underneath these stars"

 

Scuff Up - Something In The Middle

 

1. Who are Scuff Up? 

Scuff Up are an alternative rock band from Austin, Texas. They have been playing together since at least 2021 and have one EP and a hand-full of single releases to their name. Something In The Middle (Aug, 2024) is one of those singles. 

2. What's up with Something In The Middle? 

Something In The Middle has an early-Weezer sound, although lighter, and the singers voice has been compared to both Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction) and Rivers Cuomo (Weezer). The oh oh's in the big fat chorus are pure nostalgia but the verses crank up the speed and rage. Something In The Middle has a lot going for it.

3. Who do Scuff Up sound like? 

FIDLAR, PUP, WAAVES, and Weezer. 

4. Which bands have influenced Scuff Up? 

I don't know. Someone in the band likes Rush, other than that faux pas I'm guessing someone's been listening to Nirvana, Collective Soul, Jane's Addiction, or Everclear.

5. What have people said about Something In The Middle? 

"Pretty fucking rad" - YouTube Comments.

"Another banger" - YouTube Comments.

"That bassist is as whacky as fuck" - YouTube Comments.

"I've been denied at pawnshops,

Been fucked off,

Need to rinse off"

Savings - To Be Honest

1. Who are Savings? 

Good question. To be honest I don't think they gave their band name a lot of thought. It's shit and hard to Google. Savings are a pop punk band with emo roots from Albuquerque, New Mexico. To Be Honest is from their second E.P. How Do You Feel? (Aug, 2024). Which is a banger by all accounts.

2. What kind of tune is To Be Honest? 

To Be Honest is a song packed full of familiar pop punk and 90's alternative rock tropes and yet it also feels fresh. It opens treading softly with some earworm lyrics weaving a tale of lost love and when the chorus lands thirty seconds later and it's a keeper.

3. Which bands do Savings sound like? 

Hot Mulligan, Free Throw, and Right On, Kid. 

4. Which bands have influenced Savings? 

Some of their influences are Movements, Slowly Slowly, Trophy Eyes, and The Wonder Years. 

5. What have people said about Saving's music? 

"Spell-binding hooks with cathartic guitars" - Music Crowns.

"Introspective but outwardly gripping anthems" - New Noise Magazine. 

"A band hooked on pop punk and punk elements" - The Review Geek.

"I'm not in it for the long nights,

The late conversations,

But I'd still give you the moon if you let me"

Clay J Gladstone - Death By Idle Hands

 

1. Who are Clay J Gladsone? 

Clay J Gladstone are a "party punk" band with emo roots from Sydney, Australia. Death By Idle Hands (June, 2024) is the second single from their debut album Is This How I Die? (Nov, 2024). 

2. What have they got on Death By Idle Hands?  

The song the crowd are waiting for. The song that brings the drinkers back from the bar to the dancefloor to mosh to the monster chorus. Produced by Shane Edwards (The Libertines and You Me At Six amongst others).

3. Who do Clay J Gladstone sound like? 

Violent Soho, Weezer, and Andrew W.K. 

4. Which bands have influenced Clay J Gladstone? 

The band have a love for The Dillinger Escape Plan, At The Drive In, and The Used in common. 

5. What have people said about Death By Idle Hands?

"Fragile verses collide with massive Nirvana-esque choruses" - Good Call Live.

"Lyrically neurotic and sonically diverse" - Scubar.

"A whirlwind of gringey riffs" - Pit Pass. 

"All that I have left,

Are empty bottles,

And stories that I forget"

CUIR - Un air de Mexico

 

1. Who are CUIR? 

CUIR are a one man synth-punk band by Doug Zilla. Fighting out of Lorient, France, he has been making music since 2019. Un air de Mexico (August, 2024) is the third single from his second album Album Album (April, 2024). 

2. What kind of tune is Un air de Mexico? 

It's a street punk song that charges out of the gates and hits the finish line without an anthemic chorus or any flourishes. This is a lean mean punk machine.

3. Who does CUIR sound like? 

The Ramones if they forgot the chorus, Béton Armé, and Syndrome 81. 

4. Which bands have inspired CUIR? 

I don't know. But I bet he likes The Ramones, Syndrome 81, and RIXE. 

5. What have people said about CUIR's music? 

"Meaty and efficient, ripping it up in record time with no fat whatsoever" - Maximum Rock'n'Roll. 

"As catchy as ever and the music just as danceable" - Sorry State Records. 

"Combining hard hitting punk rock with super catchy synth-pop" - Genius.

"I dream of warm sand, 

To the tune of Mexico City"