Like fuzzy new-school noise-rockers No Age and Times New Viking, the
San Diego-based Crocodiles wield distortion pedals like paint brushes.
On its debut album Summer of Hate, the duo turns its fragmented
but surprisingly tuneful punk songs into a snappy, scruffy art project
with guitars. Elegiac opener “Screaming Chrome”‘s 48 seconds of droning
serenity soon give way to the Jesus and Mary Chain’s honey-slathered
buzz saws on “I Wanna Kill.” For the next half hour, Crocodiles amp
their lo-fi assault with vibrating riffs, sludgy reverb and cryptic
musings (that is, if you can make out the words — the vocals on
the dirge-like “Sleeping With the Lord” are barely perceptible). It all
comes and goes quickly: Summer of Hate clocks in at less than 34
minutes, capping with a shot of wobbly feedback that spills all over
the sonic canvas. — Gallucci
This article appears in May 13-19, 2009.
