by Crocodiles
San Diego art-punk duo Crocodiles will release their sophomore album ‘Sleep Forever’ this 12th November on Pod (Wavves, Girls) through Inertia.
Produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco (whose previous work includes Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons and Florence and the Machine), the follow-up will continue to deliver Crocodiles unique brand of sonic exploration.
The Australian version of ‘Sleep Forever’ will include two exclusive remixes by Cold Cave and The Horrors’ Tom Hurse. It will also feature two exclusive cover tracks: “Jet Boy Jet Girl” (Elton Motello) and a medley of “Groove Is In The Heart” (Dee-Lite) and “California Girls” (Beach Boys).
After meeting as teenagers at an anti-fascist rally, Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell have been in countless bands together before forming Crocodiles in 2008. In 2009 they released ‘Summer of Hate’ which caused a buzz on the blogosphere and which Rolling Stone commented “Welcome to the art-punk renaissance”
“More krauty, more dub” are the words that Brandon and Charles use to describe ‘Sleep Forever’. “James was really great,” says Brandon of its producer. “I guess there was a small fear that because he is someone who produces hit records that he’d clean us up a lot, but he did a great job of keeping it raw.”
Raw it may be, but ‘Sleep Forever’ is still an unmistakably more refined beast than its predecessor. Drums and organ whirls envelope you on tracks like “Mirrors” and “Sleep Forever”, which nod to “Ladies and Gentlemen…”-era Spiritualized as much as they do Neu! and The Velvet Underground. Meanwhile, Brandon’s tough Cali sneer gives it’s most emotional performance to date in “All My Hate and My Hexes Are For You”.
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