The latest album from this San Diego duo follows on from last year’s ten-track Endless Flowers and pares things back even further by averaging out the songs at three-and-a-half minutes each. It’s a taut, accessible offering that drags Jesus & Mary Chain drudgery into Ravonettes-style pop trappings.
Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez continue their business of delving headlong into seedy worlds of dark sex, from the sadomasochism of Marque De Sade and the purist fantasy of Virgin to the rousing, faithless opener, I Like It In The Dark. The latter song embraces gospel and features some surprising bursts of vocal gymnastics, while the remainder of the album confidently walks a tightrope of scuzzy garage rock and classic British indie guitar music. Final cut Un Chant D’amour takes its title from Jean Genet’s highly charged film from 1950, which is savage and sordid, but also a simple, sweet story of love.
Crocodiles’ fourth album has no filler, pulling together a tightly wound collection of lust-driven, loaded tunes with an undercurrent of cut-throat violence. Above all else, it’s just a great pop album.
BY CHRIS GIRDLER
Best Track: Heavy Metal Clouds
If You Like These, You’ll Like This: In Love With Oblivion CRYSTAL STILTS, Screamadelica PRIMAL SCREAM, Lust Lust Lust THE RAVONETTES
In A Word: Snappy
