Sharpie Crows- Greed
8/10

The second album from Wellington’s Sharpie Crows sees the band becoming more complex but remaining true to the lo-fi DIY style of recording. Surrounded in heavy bass rhythms and driven strongly by Jackson Hobbs’ drumming, the album is more diverse than the band’s debut We Fought The Great White Whale. Their experimentation with the softer/ slower side of noise rock, primarily on the track ‘Feathering The Nest’ is a welcome surprise, relieving some pressure from more abrasive tracks like ‘I’ll Haunt You’ and ‘Landlords’. That said, ‘I’ll Haunt You’, which was previously released on a limited EP, is the backbone of the album. A raucous ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ tale, it is driven by a heavy guitar riff displaying elements of early Black Sabbath. Just like on their previous record, Sharpie Crows show they have an acute social awareness. ‘Landlords’ addresses the current housing crisis and the growing gap between rich landlords and young tenants, while ‘Hebrew Vs Key’ is quite possibly the first anti John Key song ever written and runs just under eight minutes. There’s a famous John Peel quote about The Fall which goes “Always different, always the same” and perhaps it’s an appropriate quote to describe Sharpie Crows; because while the guitaring and keyboard playing continues to expand, becoming more experimental, the drum and bass rhythms provide a swell undercurrent that holds the band together and shapes their overall sound.
Nick

 

Posted by Nick Fulton under Album, Reviews
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