ALBUM REVIEW: Beware Believers – Crows
London-based four-piece CROWS are likely to be cult favourites by the end of the year. Beware Believers is their second album and it’s a squealing, feedback heavy racket that somehow manages to be catchy. It’s a gloomy and oppressive record that draws inspiration from dystopian fiction, faith healers, serial killers and mental illness and at times, it feels like drowning in electrical static. But it’s also grimly atmospheric and weirdly hypnotic. Like IDLES before them, they deal in a raucous brand of indie-punk that’s dark enough to attract Goths and metalheads, and while it may seem counter-intuitive, there’s a tremendous amount of crossover potential here.
Opening with a ramshackle bass line, Closer Still is the start of a nightmarish trip into London’s more shadowy corners. The distortion is thicker than treacle and it sounds like it was recorded on equipment that might fall to pieces at any moment, but it still manages to be a gripping introduction. CROWS are reminiscent of UNTO OTHERS having a fist fight with THE CLASH and this only increases as the album unfolds. Their influences are obvious, but CROWS have a distinct identity of their own.
Garden Of England and Only Time for instance both possess an intense punk energy. They’re short, fast-paced and engaging little numbers, beamed in from a riotous party at a heroin shack. Slowly Separate then swaggers in like an antisocial intellectual. It’s bristling with disdain, but channels it into a spiky chorus before Moderation and Healing go full JOY DIVISION. These ones are slightly more measured but could only be darker if they were played by actual crows, rather than a band named after them.
No matter how tortured things get though, CROWS never feel difficult to listen to. They’ve managed to make some electrifying rock and roll which could all too easily have been a depressing mess. Given one of the biggest hooks is the line “I know that everything hurts,” it’s remarkable.
All of this puts CROWS in good stead to break through in 2022. This album is full of big choruses, manic nihilism and lyrics that are destined to wind up as tattoos. And that’s without mentioning that singer James Cox is a naturally commanding and charismatic focal point. This is the kind of album that can bridge the gaps between punk, metal, goth and indie and draw in all manner of bystanders along the way. Dark clouds are gathering over England and they’re bringing a chaotic, discordant commotion with them.
Rating: 9/10
Beware Believers is set for release on April 1st via Bad Vibrations Records.
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