“BNR” is Crumb’s fuzzy ode to the colours black and red, and the Brooklyn psych-rock group brings the theme to life with a Lynchian video that slowly lulls you into its sinister point of view. Lead singer and guitarist Lila Ramani wanders down a palm tree-lined street, all while a trail of dark water crawls behind her. The imagery gets slippery from there: flares of red filter through into the black and white; Ramani sits for a lobster dinner while two waiters literally spin impatiently around her; and, in a surprise conclusion atop a hillside, the tone switches from surreal to gruesome in a shocking split second.
From the start, the group knew that cohesion was best achieved through plumbing their individual strengths – frontwoman Lila Ramani’s earliest song writing, which catalyzed the group’s first two EPs; Bri Aronow’s knack for building (dis)affecting soundscapes; the hypnotic grounding of Jonathan Gilad’s drums, a Crumb mainstay; and Jesse Brotter’s distinctive bass playing, which subtly traces Ramani’s vocal melodies while providing an unrelenting pulse. These collective skills make Crumb a project of independent self-discovery, four creative minds converging around an idea that is always shifting and reforming.
The Fat Angel Sings 