Crocodiles – Crimes Of Passion
It’s not just bands that evolve, their fans do too and it’s only natural therefore that they may not evolve in parallel. In fairness, San Diego outfit Crocodiles are yet to deviate far from their original template of surf-rock, indie fuzz and outright pop save perhaps for shelving their shoegaze leanings and cleaning up the general fidelity of their recordings. As such, Crimes Of Passion will be absolute nectar to many fans. Every track is undeniable pop gold, yet casual listeners, who may have moved on to more adventurous sonics in recent years, could find these same songs a bit wanting.
The outrageously catchy opener, for example, comes on like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club mucking about with bar-room honky tonk, but so too does it choose to overcook the mix with backing by soul singer Afrodyete of Breakestra – an unnecessary studio indulgence that also recently snared Yeah Yeah Yeahs ‘ otherwise solid hit “Sacrilege”.
The leather-clad single, “Cockroach”, then struts its way across the dancefloor in full rockstar mode and there’s a fine Stone Roses – cum – Primal Scream snarl in “Gimme Some Annihilation” too. Enjoyable as these two cuts are, they’re probably overly predictable all the same.
Continuing Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez ‘s love affair with the poppiest end of the J&MC canon, “Marquis De Sade” has more bite to it, splicing 50s rock ‘n’ roll with freak-out sax. And with Sune Rose Wagner of The Raveonettes fame on production, “She Splits Me Up” partners that same tell-tale strain of sad rock with the precise jangle of old indie, a gateway track to a host of wistful tunes where fuzzed-up melody is king.
Crimes Of Passion is probably Crocodiles’ most consistent album to date, but it comes unstuck should your expectations be set higher that decent quality nostalgic rock. These are nevertheless ten fairly faultless tunes limited only by their chosen medium.
Advised downloads: “Gimme Some Annihilation” and “Marquis De Sade”
~Crimes Of Passion is released August 19th on Zoo Music .~