Crows 'Reason Enough' (ALBUM REVIEW and TOUR PREVIEW)

Crows return with third album Reason Enough having taken the sandpaper to some of their sharpest edges. The London four-piece have built a formidable reputation for their leaden take on post punk, which here is occasionally tempered to produce their most accessible tunes to date, but with no compromise on the poise and attitude. 

Singles ‘Is It Better?’ and ‘Vision Of Me’ are moments of palpable progression, a shade lighter than usual with more melodic choruses that work wonderfully – there’s no trace of selling out, with frontman James Cox calling the album as a whole “Crows in high definition”.

 

There’s always a story to go along with the recording of a Crows record, be it debut Silver Tongues being recorded in darkness and sessions for follow-up Beware Believers involving knife-wielding games of hide and seek, so the fact that Reason Enough was recorded in a former Catholic church carries a bit more weight than it would do with other bands. Crows have always seemed like the sonic equivalent of Gothic architecture, looming grim and impressive, and now they’ve added some stained-glass windows to let a bit of beautiful light in.

 

The record lopes into life, piling on the atmospherics with a slow crescendo bursting to a thrashing climax on the title track before turning very much to the second half of post punk on ‘Bored’, which somehow has echoes of a contemporary Sex Pistols mixed in. The record isn’t perfect, slightly sagging in the middle with ‘Lie To Me’ feeling a bit tired where elsewhere there’s a renewed life and vigour – ‘Every Day of Every Year’ snarls urgently, and state-of-the-nation anthem ‘Land of the Rose’ is vicious doom and gloom – but it’s a small lapse in an otherwise powerful album.

 

Post punk has been twisted every which way in the past couple of years as bands shapeshift to avoid stagnation, sometimes successfully sometimes not. IDLES and Fontaines DC have recently done so magnificently, and while their changes are a little less pronounced, Crows can safely join them in the column with a massive tick at the top.

Words - Joe Ponting 

Reason Enough out 27th September 2024 via Bad Vibrations

Tour kicks off Saturday October 5th @ Leeds Brudenell Social Club

Crows are James Cox (vocals), Steve Goddard (guitar), Jith Amarasinghe (bass) and Sam Lister (drums), 

Crows on the recording of the new album;

“Having a more relaxed approach this time around meant we could explore different stuff,” Goddard says. “We don’t want to sound the same as we did before – this is our third album, we have to move on. And so we fucked around a bit more.”

On recent single, Is It Better?;

“It’s a homage to the friends and my family who helped guide me get through it. It’s also a reflection on having gone through something and not coming out unscathed - dealing with the damage I picked up along the way, and accepting my new reality." (James Cox)

Working once again with Manoela Chiabai (Tove Lo, SG Lewis, FLO, Depeche Mode, IDLES, Future Islands) for the video, he says “When I heard 'Is it better?', I thought there was something so incredibly absurd about the lyrics and the title that poses an impossible question. I started to think about a man that feels dead inside and just wants to escape life, but not even at his own funeral he can find peace, and as such he finds himself in some sort of a loop.

This attempt to divorce ourselves from the world is actually what represents the inescapable human condition. As the song is very catchy and upbeat, leaning into the absurd with ridiculous humour and playfulness was fun and interesting to explore - having Crows as cameos getting into the most stupid fight ever over a double dipper was so gratifying! It was by far one the funniest experiences I've ever had on set.”

Tracklist

01. Reason Enough

02. Bored

03. Is It Better?

04. Vision Of Me

05. Land Of The Rose

06. Every Day Of The Year

07. Lie To Me

08. Living On My Knees

09. Silhouettes

10. D-Gent

Tour Dates

Oct 5 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club

Oct 9 - Brighton, UK @ DUST

Oct 10 - Manchester, UK @ The Deaf Institute

Oct 11 - Glasgow, UK @ King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

Oct 12 - Dublin, IE @ The Soundhouse

Oct 14 - Nottingham, UK @ Rough Trade Nottingham

Oct 15 - London, UK @ Village Underground

Oct 17 - Bristol, UK @ Exchange

Oct 18 - Hebden Bridge, UK @ The Trades Club

Tickets