Liverpool has been going through something of an indie and alternative boom as of late. The Mysterines, Courting, Ladytron, Circa Waves, Red Rum Club… it feels like every month there’s a new artist from Merseyside exploding onto the scene, giving the city and surrounding areas a new musical heritage to be proud of. One such act is the four-piece CRAWLERS, whom certainly have experienced quite the year.
From their single 'Come Over (Again)' exploding online, to selling out their 2022 headline tour, to even getting to support the legendary My Chemical Romance, the band have experienced what I can only image to have been one of the most exciting years of their lives, culminating in the release of their new mixtape, ‘Loud Without Noise’.
Across the span of the project’s six tracks, vocalist Holly Minto, guitarist Amy Woodall, bassist Liv Kettle, and drummer Harry Breen showcase the band’s versatility, energy, and pure talent; the riffs are punchy, the basslines are slick, the drumming is effervescent, and the lyrics and their delivery are simply phenomenal throughout. Minto’s vocals on ‘I Can’t Drive’ swing between a husky melancholy in their lower register and a desperate fragility in their upper register as the band blasts through one of the most emotionally potent and punchy break-up tracks to grace pop-punk in quite some time. The pure toxicity of the relationship is explored with heartbreaking earnesty through lyrics such as ‘You said that it was romantic/I was in psychosis’.
On ‘Fuck Me (I Didn’t Know How To Say)’, CRAWLERS paint a picture of sexual cohesion that is frankly nauseating in how bleakly it is delivered; Minto’s vocals portray a palpable anger and sorrow, every lyric delivered with both attack and vulnerability, against a back-drop of stripped back instrumentation that builds to a a simple, catchy and explosive chorus. ‘Feminist Radical Hypocritical Delusional’ is throttling and thundering tour-de-force that melds elements of post-punk with pop-punk to produce something that feels totally relevant and yet wholly unique. Minto almost seems angry at themselves for being so aware of the world through lyrics such as ‘Feminist, radical, hypocritical, delusional/I tried to live once, now I'm in debt, how unusual’, yet ultimately always manages to remain acutely aware that the anger should be directed outwards.
In regards to ‘Too Soon’, frankly, if I had this song written about me, I’d never be able to leave the house again; Minto is utterly scathing in their lyricism and delivery, with bars such as ‘I did it how you liked it and you liked it as security/Your mother and your lover when you could have gotten therapy’ being sharp enough to kill. Alongside this plays an overwhelmingly distorted bass line from Kettle that is monstrously enjoyable to listen to, and really shows the band at their heaviest. And the instrumentation continues to be showcased on ‘I Don’t Want It’ - Kettle’s bass and Breen’s ferocious drumming really bring this dance-punk track together into a fierce musical whirlwind.
The freedom of leaving a toxic relationship is perfectly encapsulated in this wistful and anthemic closing track, ‘Hang Me Like Jesus’, with its simple acoustic guitar lines and subtle hints of muted brass. The track builds to a rapturous, righteous climax that indicates CRAWLERS are so much more than just another pop-punk band; they are a collective of talented, creative musicians that have an incredibly bright future ahead of them.
The group have stylised this release as a ‘mixtape’, a smorgasbord of sounds to give you little samples of what they are capable of, and after trying it out, I can say for sure that I am absolutely on board with this group. Certainly, I can only imagine that for most bands, especially smaller acts, getting to tour alongside My Chemical Romance is the very peak of your career. But after listening to ‘Loud Without Noise’, you can’t help but wonder just how far CRAWLERS can go.
CRAWLERS new mixtape 'Loud Without Noise' is available to stream on all major platforms. Watch the video for 'Too Soon' below.