Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

Hmmm... How should I describe Creepy Crawlers?

How about, "Paw Tracks-friendly"?

For the uninitiated, Paw Tracks is a record label created by members of Animal Collective that routinely releases, depending on your opinion, either wonderfully-idiosyncratic avant-garde music or disingenuously inconsequential sounds sorely lacking in genuine emotion and intellect, often peppered with overly overt post-post ironic nostalgia. In case you can't tell, my opinion of the label's output in general and Creepy Crawlers in particular is the latter.

I suspect that to the more intellectually-inclined members of an internet-savvy generation who seek something more meaningful than Lady Gaga, Flo Rida and Coldplay, the likes of Black Dice and Animal Collective seem to be genuine Artists (with a capital 'A', no less) following their own curious musical hearts rather than market research. However, as Last.fm's 'Similar artists' facility, which lists musicians who frequently share listeners with a specified artist, reveals the fans of the two latter groups are more likely to listen to other recent blog-friendly acts like Grizzly Bear and Wavves than established avant-gardists like Edgar Varese and John Coltrane.

And here lies the problem with the music of Creepy Crawlers: it appears to be the music of individuals whose knowledge of experimental and avant-garde music is limited to what are essentially contemporary indie bands. This isn't necessarily a problem. I mean, musicians don't need to have a degree in musicology to create worthwhile work, but if they are delving into experimental music with only second (if not third onwards)-generation approximations too recent to have stood a significant test of time as guides, well...

In case I'm not making myself clear, I am not harshly comparing Creepy Crawlers to the Greats but instead trying to make two observations: 1) expanding their record collections might help to expand their musical palette; and 2) strangeness - especially the kitsch, art-damaged kind - alone does not a meaningful composition make.

And I mean both points with the utmost sincerity, because Creepy Crawlers are not hopeless, just misguided. Behind the random, self-conscious primitivism lies obvious technical knowledge, for many of the sounds and textures clearly require applications of both time and skill to create. For example, 'First night in the new house' and 'dang dog' demonstrate that these guys know how to create and inventively layer simple melodies, as well as modify sounds to discover new patterns and tones... but that's all the emotionless, intellectually-void tracks offer. Likewise, after sitting through the first affected half of 'sensitive vibes', the listener is treated to dreamy digitally-processed fuzz Fennesz would be proud of... but by that point it's literally too little, too late with the track ending a minute later.

Sigh... If only this talent was applied to something more substantial than being weird for weird's sake.


To make up your own mind visit http://www.myspace.com/creepycrawlerscrawl

Re: Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

the only reason why i even signed up for this website was to be able to reply this review. you compare creepy crawlers to animal collective and black dice when creepy crawlers doesn't remotely sound similar to either of these groups. you could compare them to say these groups are making unique sounding music.

"Sigh... If only this talent was applied to something more substantial than being weird for weird's sake."

creating music is an individual thing. it was not created just for sake of being weird. you sound exactly like the people that are fans of "flo-rida" and "lady gaga" when they first hear my music. you either like the music your hearing or don't. theres too many things in this you cant judge the music on, like the people who make it and their musical palettes . fuck u and your a half-ass, contradicting review.

thank you for taking to minute to hear our music

Re: Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

i really don't get this.

you do realise that posting a defensive statement about your own band underneath a negative review of said band only serves to make you look like a complete douche.

it's an opinion mate, it's not personal, as long as you love what your doing that's all that should matter.

and for the record i read the review and listened to your music and could kind of see what the reviewer was getting at... so i guess that makes me an idiot too eh?

Re: Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

I always laugh at the bands that ask for a review and then cry when they don't agree. If you don't wanna know what we think, don't ask us to review your stuff. Simple as.

Re: Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

i stick to what i say, this review is a excellent example of a reviewer trying to be clever and impressive by finding random unneccessary "flaws" that have nothing to do with the music.
i never asked for the review but found this and had a good laugh. thanks for writing it. someone might hear it and like it, but who would???????????

Re: Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

I'm not listening to your music full stop, as your username is highly offensive. Minus points for being a Douche.

Re: Unknown Pleasures: Creepy Crawlers
 

I'll summarise the review for you:

To me, Creepy Crawlers seem to be trying to make experimental/avant-garde music; agreed?

Why the music is experimental/avant-garde is a mystery to me because it doesn't seem to be breaking with conventions to deal with unconventional emotions or thoughts, like, for example, 60s psychedelic Rock breaking with conventions to convey unconventional emotions (some drug-based, some based on religious experiences, etc.).

Please tell us what the listener should be getting from the music, because to a lot of listeners an apparent lack of emotional and/or intellectual content is more than an "unnecessary flaw".