Post Description

Crocodiles - Sleep Forever (2010)
  MP3 320 CBR | 85 MB | No scans
Indie Rock | Label: Fat Possum Records 

“Sophomore album from this San Diego fuzz-rock duo. Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford produces.”


Tracklist:

01. Mirrors 05:32
02. Stoned to Death 05:23
03. Hollow Hollow Eyes 02:52
04. Girl In Black 05:05
05. Sleep Forever 04:11
06. Billy Speed 03:23
07. Hearts of Love 04:02
08. All My Hate and My Hexes Are for You 04:47

Los Angeles has been the undisputed ruler of lo-fi leaning, Jesus And Mary Chain-loving, amp-fuzz guitar bands since around the middle of the last decade. For a lot of people the only act that 'mattered' from that scene is, of course, the dynamic-duo No Age, whose energetic teen-punk charisma won the hearts of so many LA hipsters. The legendary avant-DIY rock club The Smell proudly bears the cover of the band's Weirdo Rippers on its back wall. But there's also Mika Miko, HEALTH, The Mae Shi and Abe Vigoda - all bands who've made solid names for themselves within the City of Angels' insulated world of indie rock.

So it seemed almost inevitable that LA's sneer would eventually trickle down south to San Diego, and sure enough, around 2007 quite a few bands started playing music like they grew up a few hours north. Anchored critically by the ever-divisive Wavves, people have slowly started talking about "the San Diego lo-fi scene" and have naturally made a connection to the much more fertile "Los Angeles lo-fi scene". But Crocodiles have been one of the few bands from the city to have the sound, spirit, and professionalism to make it out of the blog-buzz mire and into the world of label-released LPs and Rolling Stone write-ups. Their second record Sleep Forever has the band sounding ever more apart from their one-trick contemporaries.

Sleep Forever has the band trying a number of styles while staying in one particular blanketing aesthetic, that being early '80s post-punk. They're sometimes gothy, like the blip-blooping, chintz-synth love-ode All My Hate and My Hexes Are For You, and sometimes they're noise-poppy, like on the buzz-sawing guitar attack on opener Mirrors, but most of the time they're just really, really hazy - coating every inch of their sound in warm layer of fuzz.

But while that fuzz sometimes limits the scope of a band, Crocodiles are able to get massive sound out of the power of indistinguishable noise. A band like Small Black has the same sense of blearing out their instruments, but they end up sounding meek because of it. Crocodiles always sound impressively powerful; the title track in particular is led by huge stomping stadium drums and a vocal performance that can only be described as epic. It earnestly pays tribute to unlikely British pop gods The Stone Roses and Oasis - not obvious touchstones for a noise rock band.

Crocodiles have more swagger, and more of an actual, crowd-pleasing rock star quality than pretty much every other band in their specific scene. You're not going to hear Wavves crank out an uplifting, unironic banger anytime soon, and that smirking sense of apathy partially devalues that band's music. Crocodiles are a talented rock band with a strong sense of songwriting, for sure, but they're also very happy to be playing music, and that joy shines through any amount of fuzz Sleep Forever might throw at you.