Who doesn’t love Crobot? I mean, seriously, after the roaring success of the deliciously psychedelic Motherbrain, the band should, according to all conventional wisdom, be huge. With great art, gargantuan riffs and, in Brandon Yeagley, an unstoppable frontman, Crobot have all the ingredients necessary to ravage stadiums the world over and now, with Rat Child they’re out to bother your eardrums all over again with four new tracks not to mention guest appearances from Frank Bello (Anthrax), Stix Zadina (Steep Panther) and Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage).
Kicking off with the insanely groovy Mountain (feat. Frank Bello), Crobot have clearly lost none of their penchant for speaker-threatening volume and catchy melodies. Caught somewhere between Clutch, Audioslave and Altar Bridge, Mountain feels as huge as the object from which it draws its name, and the production does a good job of rendering the band with suitably thunderous clarity. Next up, Howard Jones appears to lend a hand on the Sabbath-esque Kiss It Goodbye, a monumental slab of primal metal with psychedelic flourishes shooting through the mix amidst trails of effervescent reverb. Pretty much the epitome of all that makes Crobot great, Kiss It Goodbye is a classic in the making, and is liable to be tattooed to your deck for weeks, even months, to come. The thing with Crobot is that there’s so much energy in their performance, you wonder how they could possibly hold anything over for the live shows; and yet I can guarantee that the songs will take on an even more punishing aspect when the band finally do hit the boards. The pace changes considerably on Everyone Dies (feat. Stix Zadina), a piano-led ballad with a sting in the tail, that sits cheerily between Queen and Wolfmother. A cool track, it lacks the balls-to-the-wall power of the tracks that precede it, although it builds to an almighty climax complete with multi-tracked guitars, and the central refrain can’t help but glue itself into your consciousness. Last, but not least, the title track takes the voodoo swing of the Rolling Stones in their prime and filters it through an alt-rock lens. Less immediate than the other tracks, it’s one of those pieces that benefits from repeated listens but one thing is without doubt – Dan Ryan absolutely slays behind the kit on this one, moving from swampy groove to hard rock demolition job with gleeful abandon.
Lengthy conclusion? Fuck no – Crobot Rule. That’s all you need to know. Now, buy the EP. 9/10
