London four-piece Crows thrive in the darkness. That much has been clear since their earliest days inciting chaos across Europe alongside the likes of METZ and Slaves, it’s in the seedy, sweaty underworld of basement shows that they’ve dug their roots. Dropping back in the shadows after every hurricane outing, to date the group have kept a relatively low profile, drip-feeding immeasurably accomplished teasers like last yearssingle “Pray” before disappearing into the black once more.
‘Unwelcome Light’, the band’s debut EP, is a record unlike others. Recorded live and designed to flow as one continuous piece, it bottles that wide-eyed stare of their live show, whacks a petrol-soaked rag in the neck and sets everything ablaze. A cloudy brew of gut-churning psych nestled up against the kind of serrated, clattering noise that’d make even a factory-worker blush, it’s pudding-proof that biding their time has paid dividends.
Below the player, we catch up with the band’s frontman James Cox, to talk everything from broken bones (he punched a curtain once, and it bit back) to the current crop of British breakthroughs Crows find themselves making fitting bedfellows with.
Produced & mixed by Adam Jaffrey at Unwound Recordings
Unwelcome Light EP out March 25 on Telharmonium Records
The Fat Angel Sings 