The Crocodiles

For the uninitiated, Crocodiles songs began slinging across the Interweb after their friends in No Age named the band’s song “Neon Jesus” as one of their Top Ten shredders of 2008. Unprompted, the forward-thinking Fader Blog posted two more stunner tracks, “I Wanna Kill” and “Summer of Hate.” Stereogum recently named them Band to Watch and described them as “The Velvet Underground swinging Jesus and Mary Chain.” Really though, Crocodiles are just a great new rock duo hollering some fine tunes.

San Diego is a sleepy military town, stuck between Tijuana and the bright lights of Los Angeles, but this isn't Surf City, USA. The beaches may be home to students and tanners, but they're also home to hell's angels, jocks, drug casualties, and the medicated rich. Warplanes rumble in and out of the naval base, and as in countless American cities, the kids here are bored.

Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez met as teenagers amidst this overwhelming feeling of emptiness. Playing in various groups since then, the duo struck out on their own as Crocodiles in April of 2008. They quickly self-released a 7" single and used it as an excuse to escape their tarpit hometown, first touring up and down the west coast and then venturing across the whole of the U.S.

Crocodiles debut album, Summer of Hate, was recorded over the winter of 2008, and will be released by Fat Possum on April 28, 2009. it is born of the same alienation and frustration that fueled Charles' and Brandon's initial pairing. Poppy vocal melodies are crushed with harsh electronic drums or lifted and left floating in spaced-out noise and echo. loud, wiry guitars jab wildly like mutant synapses skirting along a tightrope drone.This is the dark side of the California sun.