CROWS PROVE THERE IS STILL BEAUTY IN THE DARK WITH NEW ALBUM ‘REASON ENOUGH’
ALBUM REVIEW | CROWS – REASON ENOUGH by Tom Whittleton 5/5
Crows are no strangers to the darker side of life, after the release of their debut album ‘Silver Tongues‘ in 2019 and follow up ‘Beware Believers‘, they solidified a reputation as a post punk gothic powerhouse unafraid to get their hands, guitars or drumsticks dirty. The bands reputation for incendiary live shows is something to be seen in person; breathing the same air as jerking twitchy front man James Cox and the rest of the murder (of Crows) inflicts a trance like state of urgent energy, which will leave you begging for more. And so, after a 2 year break they are back with ‘Reason Enough‘ – an album which caps off their trilogy of monochromatic filthy goodness.
‘Reason Enough‘ is fresher and comes with a renewed sense of purpose without losing any of the poetically charged grit of the past. The sound achieved in early releases has become honed, sharpened and ready to cause significant physical harm like a stake through the genre’s cold heart. Recorded in a converted church crypt may have something to do with that, but lurking vampires have always been post punk fans, right?
Opener and title track Reason Enough sets the pace for the album to come, with a jaw clenching bassline from Jith Amarasinghe and drummer Sam Lister‘s kick combination, which does not ease the listener into the track but instead grabs them firmly by the collar and presents itself as an ominous taste of what’s to come.
“Everyone makes decisions they know are better for one not better for all” snarls front man James Cox establishing the political tone of the album without making blanket sloganeering or catchy statements. The politics of this band seem firmly grounded in the personal and the lived in without any unnecessary preaching to the choir.
The guitar rumbles in for the chorus like a distant storm of fuzztone feedback bringing all the elements of the coiled spring build up into action and like a cartoon mouse trap the band hurtle forward. “A reason to live in reason enough” is spat out and extended with a touch of vocal melody in an otherwise abrasive yet satisfying opener.
Without a second to catch your breath or put out the fire from your now smoldering sound system, Crows are in your face with a declaration of sheer mundanity, something we all feel in 2020s Britain. Bored kicks the door down, doesn’t wipe its shoes and helps itself to your cupboards. Janky guitars with the same dirty bass tone and heavy drumming reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age bring you into the world of Crows.
“It’s just a sign of the times” is a repeated bridge line pounding relentlessly into your head that although life is mind numbingly dull things are not changing. This nihilistic call to arms is something I feel is needed; something about knowing a raging post punk singer feels the same as I do harkens back to the teenage punk sensibility of Iggy Pop or Gang Of Fours and their head high and fuck ’em all attitude.
The song is not without a personal touch, Cox sings about his own internal issues with mundanity: “If there’s a lack of a purpose I’ll leave, if there’s a lack of connection I’ll leave”, showing that this is not your average bleak punk thrash out, but something which connects deeper around the need for instant gratification.
The track fades out leading into Lister’s snare roll attack befitting of a marching army in track 3, Is It Better? Leading with an intro which makes me want to tear the tiles of my walls before cooling ever so slightly into an introspective verse “I’m leading myself down a dark and silent line”; a reference to the self destructive demon in us all which pushes the worst of our nature forward. This track almost feels a dedication to someone special who has dragged Cox from the pits: “is it better to love and live in fear of pain”, which perfectly captures that falling in love sky dive where the feeling of getting hurt again is ever present. The track builds into a breakdown where guitarist Steve Goddard lets ring out repeated chords, echoing the urgency of the songs subject matter.
There is something deeply personal about this record with a universal emotional connection with the listener. Cox, as the singer and the internal narrator, is taking you on a guided tour of his own psyche, triggering traces of your own fears and insecurity within it all.
Middle track of the album Land Of The Rose is the highlight for me. A stand alone achievement in post-punk political song writing; it captures the state of a nation in decline. The old and the new versions of Britain through a lens of deep seeded anger and fear, but not without a melancholic feeling of how have we fallen so far and cared so little. Like most tracks on this album, the rhythm section takes centre stage as Cox lays in again; like a man at the end of his tether, punching repeatedly against the brick wall of the British establishment. “How can I love you and feel shame upon my pride?” Cox bites, pitting that thin line between patriotism and out right nationalism in direct conflict with the shame felt at the nation’s decline. There is a deep duality in this track, a hopelessly optimistic spark in truly bleak times; “every day is a struggle to see past the descension” is a seriously catchy chorus line, built to be screamed in sweaty venues across the country. Like a boxer on the ropes spitting blood but ready for one last punch out, all audio cuts out, leaving just drums for a split second breather before bursting into a breakdown. There is a declaration of unrequited love following a string snapping and mind bending final act of “goodbye, goodbye, goodbye to the land of the rose ashamed you should go”. A last ditch effort in the band’s now machine gun beating heart for a Britain long gone in its Albion past and the shame we all feel watching our most vulnerable in decline.
The next track Every Day Of The Year swings like a 50s surf rock band discovering The Fall in the best imaginable way possible: single note guitar bending lends the straight forward bass thump space to race forward. “From time to time to time to time I feel stable” flirts with Cox’s internal duality, “From time to time and once in a while I feel evil”, flicking between both neutrality to the burning rage in his vocal delivery.
As the album is reaching its final chapters you feel as if Crows have taken you on a long trip through your own doubts and pains, but also that of the larger picture. ‘Lie To Me‘ is as personal as anything from Interpol‘s discography but with an IDLES level of guitar noise. “Holding back the words again out of fear but you raise your voice again , I can’t face a fight tonight I’m not feeling strong enough for self defence”, this lyric in its gut wrenching vulnerability leaves no stones unturned; it is relatable only to the darkest of personal moments showing an emotional understanding which the many peers in this band’s genre are yet to truly describe. In such a bravado filled scene with so much posing of past punk icons, this level of honesty is refreshing yet heartbreaking.
The band match the desperation in the track beating into slow chord bursts of energy: “Just lie to me, tell me it’s my fault, convince me I’m wrong, tell me I should stay”, is melodic masochism to the highest degree and I’m all for the darkness, in fact, you can drown me in it
In the band’s closest flirtation with Indie sensibilities, Living On My Knees is their melodic peak. The most “accessible” song on the album, the vocals in the chorus give you something to shout back and stomp your feet at with the wall of noise moments letting the band rip. “Got my neck under your feet now baby, you’ve got me living on my knees” romances the masochistic dominance of someone who you just can’t get away from or from the nation which suffocates you from leaving.
The album closes on D-Gent, where the groove doesn’t end and the band are at an almost psychedelic level of drone with Goddard’s whammy bar offering some serious reverb. This is possibly the tightest rhythm section in the genre – Amarasinghe and Lister are tighter than a coffin nail. “Will things ever really truly change? I’ve read the writing on the wall” death rattles Cox, as if exhausted by the weight of the world letting the last heart beats of this truly spectacular record play out before the curtain closes.
‘Reason enough‘ combines the personal with the political and the raw emotion with cold commanding aggression. Crows are back and this is their finest work to date. See them live where it’s real.
‘Reason Enough’ is out on the 27th of September on all platforms (as well as some seriously beautiful vinyl copies) – Pre-save/Pre-order HERE!
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