Crooked Bangs Tease New Album, II, with Riotous Single “Rabbit Hole”
A dark gothic atmosphere serves as the backdrop for the new single “Rabbit Hole” from Austin angst-punkers, Crooked Bangs. The immediate differentiator for Crooked Bangs amidst the sea of punk bands, is that lead singer, Leda Ginestra, oscillates between laissez-faire French murmurings and incisive English punctuations. The bilingual vocal stylings evoke francophile nostalgia for bands like Metal Urbain and Plastic Bertrand, but Crooked Bangs brings a contemporary laser-like focus that eviscerates their predecessors in favor of their own unique sound. The trio’s second full-length, II, is out April 21st on Nervous Intent Records with much touring to follow. While pop, new wave, hardcore have strands of DNA within II, the wide umbrella of punk envelopes Crooked Bangs for the most part. Though this album seems a bit more polished and fine-tuned than the band’s debut, the band doesn’t sacrifice its acerbic angst or visceral primality in the process. “Rabbit Hole” teeters on a steady backbeat as guitars whirr like a diesel-fueled chainsaw, and Ginestra’s vocals swirl above the melee with an almost aloof objectivity as the vortex dips in and out of the chorus. Crooked Bangs have the deadly triumvirate of technical precision, vocal uniqueness, and a wanton ethos of unpacifiable rage which will make, II, a highlight of this crop of Spring album releases.
-Lee Ackerley
