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Crushed Out drops their latest album on March 17 via Romanus Records. It’s called Stay Wild Gator Child. Blogcritics is pleased to premiere the album right here, right now.
Made up of Frankie Sunswept on guitar and vocals and Moselle Spiller on drums and vocals, Crushed Out’s music merges dark surf flavors with rough-and-ready blues into a retro radical sound. Their music has appeared in VICELAND’s King of the Road, MTV’s Finding Carter, as well as Thrasher Magazine videos, Big Star Jeans, and ESPN. Crushed Out has shared the stage with Shakey Graves, Band of Skulls, Social Distortion, and Joan Jett.
Fuzzy, Distorted Guitars
Stay Wild Gator Child comprises eight tracks. “Big N Good” rides a punk-flavored surf tune featuring dirty, distorted guitar riffs and rumbling drums. Tight, compact textures flow forth with unrelenting energy from oozing keyboards, while the vocal harmonies provide a retro purr that’s effective and contagious. “Arabian Mare” offers a rockabilly feel imbued with psychedelic surf colors and dreamy, mellow vocals with beau coup lingering tones.
“Deep” delivers dark, thrumming harmonics traveling underneath sighing vocal tones drifting with resonant hues. The rhythmic pulse is potent and intoxicating, giving the tune a retro prog rock feel akin to Blue Oyster Cult. This might be my favorite tune on the album because of its power-drive dynamism. “Rhinestone Sky” combines SoCal surf with a hint of country and psychedelia. Layers of fuzzy guitars grind and wail with trembling and charged pigments.
“Gator Child” features an upbeat bluesy-swampy sensibility. Quavering keyboards and jangly guitars on full fuzz buster mode infuse the tune with a drawling, pungent vitality. “568” opens with fuzzed-out guitars on a surf-fusion-jazz tune. The blurry guitars assume a powerfully heavy ozone mistiness accompanied by psychedelic-laced colors and reeling vocal tones.
Buoyant Surf Sound
“Paranoid Werewolf” presents a surf’s up melody driven by crisp drums and twangy Jan & Dean guitars. There’s a bubblegum-beach pop feel to the song that’s superbly attractive. “Skateboarding in the Sky” mixes surf pop and down home country vibes into an ebulliently buoyant sound akin to The Go-Go’s covering Hank Williams. It’s a deliciously fun song.
Crushed Out definitely demands admiration. Their sound is eccentrically retro yet gorgeously contagious, blending the heady sounds of the ’50s and ’60s with modern sonic aromas. The synthesis of sounds projects a supple force that’s ooh la la. Stay Wild Gator Child excites pangs of nostalgia, along with brash energy.
Keep up with Crushed Out on their website, Facebook, and Twitter.
Preorder the album on vinyl.
