Summer of Hate

The Crocodiles
Summer of Hate
3 out of 10

Last week I reviewed the new cd by The Horrors. They changed their style from a punkabilly psych rock sound to a sound that brings to mind everyone from Joy Division, Jesus and Mary Chain, Neu!, Can, and My Bloody Valentine. Instead of spot the influence, the band merged each sound and created its own distinct sound. While you can still hear certain aspects of those bands in their music, it never reaches the level of plagiarism. What happens in the opposite case, where a band just apes their influences and doesn't create anything special or meaningful? There I think you get a band like The Crocodiles.

They exploded onto the scene last year with a fuzzy Wire like single called "Neon Jesus."



It has it's charms and led many people to eagerly anticipate the release of Summer of Hate. The lead single off the album is called "I Wanna Kill" that oddly doesn't even seem to try and hide the fact that it cops verbatim the melody, drum track, and synth bass from Jesus and Mary Chain's "Head On." I compared the two together and it is shocking how similar they are. As an intellectual property attorney, if JAMC wishes to file suit I will be more than happy to take them on as a client.



Then if aping JAMC was not enough, there are a string of songs that sound cribbed from the Spaceman 3/Spirtualized stoner drone rock camp; for example "Summer of Hate," "Sleeping with the Lord," and "Here Comes the Sky."







Every so often there are a few songs that show that they have some originality, however, usually it is pretty fleeting. "Refuse Angels" has a kinetic beat and frantic sound.



And "Young Drugs" uses a simple drum machine and analog synth to create a pleasing homage to 80s synth pop bands.

If they had stuck to their strengths and not relied so heavily on their influences, this could have been a good release. But since they didn't, it is a forgettable debut. I can only hope they follow the path of The Horrors and listen to their own true sound and come up with something to far surpass this dreck.