Crocodiles to play Badlands Festival this summer
Fri 28 Feb 2025Like many fine bands before them, Crocodiles worhsip at the twin altars of noise and melody, and while they may tilt more in one direction than another at different times, their music is always hooky, decadent fun. The duo of Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez hit the ground running, and the band's early albums like 2009's Summer of Hate, were fully formed, neon-lit Nuggets of garage rock-meets-Jesus and Mary Chain. Future albums may have favored the hooky side of the equation (2013's Crimes of Passion) or tabled the guitars for synths (2016's Dreamless,) but as 2023's Upside Down in Heaven proved once again, their radiant blend of noise and melody never dimmed.
The band spent the early months of 2020 pandemic recording cover songs and releasing them on a series of cassettes that went under the title of Shitty Times. They also split their energy; Welchez working with Kate Clover in her noise pop band and Rowell making industrial dance music under the name Crush of Souls. That project released a single, "Call You," in late 2021, while Clover issued a Welchez-produced album titled Bleed Your Heart Out in April of 2022.
Meanwhile, the duo were working on music together, recording in France with producer Maxime Smadja and a rhythm section of drummer Diego Dal Bon and bassist Atef Aouadhi. The resulting Upside Down in Heaven sanded off some of the rough sonic edges of the previous record while lyrically delving into death, decay, and bitterness.
This summer Crocodiles are over to play Badlands Festival in the Netherlands