Crows – Silver Tongue

In recent years, there has been an incredible surge in post punk music. From the dark, gothic overtones of a band like Grave Pleasures to the loaded political gunshots of Idles. The wave of 1980s nostalgia that has gripped the world for the last decade has gradually seeped into music and these bands are now coming to the fore. Crows are the latest, and they’re mixing that post-punk sound with a noisy riff driven edge. On the spectrum of this scene they fall somewhere in the middle of the two bands above and that is perhaps the biggest problem with this album.

From the opening track they set out their stall for the rest of the record, with a repetitive stoner-esque riff driving through the entire song while vocalist James Cox moans mournfully over the top. There is nothing wrong intrinsically with this, but after two tracks, the formula is already beginning to wear thin.

There are some interesting diversions like the Morrissey-influenced crooning on Empyrean or the mystic lyrics of First Light // False Face, but by the time you are at the end of the album it really feels a lot longer than it’s 45 minute run time.

The problem is, it is without the interesting diversions of other bands in the scene. This really is a little boring, and even after several listens through, there is very little that sticks, and you’re left trying to remember what you’ve listened to.

Tom Butterworth

May 9, 2019

Hi, I'm Tom Butterworth. Born and raised in Northampton, resident in Liverpool for six years now. I've been obsessive about music for over ten years. My favourite bands include Nightwish, Death, Letlive, Slipknot,, The Menzingers, Gojira, Opeth and Pink Floyd among others. \m/

@little_tom13

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