Some of the change ups on the album are near-breathtaking. In "Rats and Rats and Rats For Candy," The Blood Brothers throw nearly everything at the listener, switching maniacally between high and low vocals, throwing out constant tempo changes, moving from slower and more pronounced lyrics to intense screaming. The song is pandemonium, yet it never becomes frustrating or annoying. It enfolds the listener in energy and insanity, driving forever forward.

Then the album shifts gears again and moves into contemplative and dwelling lyrics with the title track. This happens again and again, the switch between different musical styles, a variety of tempos and intensity, never long being content with one pace. It offers a great variety and ever-changing musical landscape. It's hard to lose interest in this album as it barrels along, always morphing and evolving.

Try to understand the lyrics as Johnny Whitney screams, "The carnival's glossy ghosts, / zebra-painted horses parade, / the cotton candy prostitutes, / caramel apple corpses singing, / 'Just this way to the neon orange gallows! / Tonight we tie the noose around the killer's collar! / Watch him play his wind pipe organ!'" Listen as Jordan Blilie growls, "If the brick / you throw / puts a bullet in your skull / and a police boot lands atop your gaping jaw?" on the song "Peacock Skeleton With Crooked Feathers." Then revel in the pure and dark macabre as the two of them together sing, "If tuxedos slither off corpses / and copulate wild on wedding cake, / and the priest starts snapping photos?" These songs are in no way tame and seem specifically designed to evoke emotion and drag up dark and imaginative imagery, to slither and snake their way into the listener's mind. The album evokes a black world, complete with dysfunction and pain and descriptive horror. Yet, this does not come across as a depressing album, either, with the malevolent lyrics consistently expressed in a playful and at times taunting manner.

Crimes is an impressive balancing of moods and sounds. It's an amazing mixture of hardcore and melody, with a touch of pop thrown in to keep everything off-balance. The Blood Brothers are not producing the same music they once were, but this is not a bad development. Instead, they have evolved and created a style of music that stands apart from the crowd and that deserves wide recognition. I'm excited to see what they'll come up with next.