King Crawdad Album Release at The Lyric with Jesus Christ Taxi Driver and Los Toms
My main thought leaving King Crawdad’s album release at the Lyric with Jesus Christ Taxi Driver and Los Toms is – god I hope they sanitize that microphone.
Jesus Christ Taxi Driver
Jesus Christ Taxi Driver opened up as the first act with several songs off their newer album ‘Lick My Soul‘. I believe they are at their strongest with their song ‘STUPIDMOTHERFUCKER’, their chaotic little brother energy sending them careening around the stage. They seem to be tighter, possibly due to their time on tour, and crisper in their vocals despite a bit of disorganized chaos throughout the night. They may huddle on stage to decide what songs to play, but each song is played with passion and precision.
If there are two things we can count on with any of their performances it’s that janky ass cymbal and the song ‘Lana Del Rey’. They have a sleaze-heavy stage presence, like the ostentatious sense of identity when looking at yourself drunk in a mirror. Microphone wet from the front man’s lips, sweat beading on the forehead of their drummer, and a sparkly strap on their bassist are still screens of their performance.
Los Toms
Los Toms went on as the second act of the night. Every time I’ve seen Los Toms I’ve had the distinct thought that they really commit to psychedelia, the complete embracement of self. Barefoot on stage, clad in tie-dye and head banging into a wah pedal. They played a set full of covers, cutting loose and having fun on stage.
I’ve seen people manage to make metal music psychedelic but Los Toms flips the script and makes psychedelic music metal. The youth-crew-esque vocals from their drummer really add to their specific sound.
King Crawdad
King Crawdad runs more punk than their openers, making a bit of a patchwork lineup but it speaks to their friendships and support for each other. The stage seemed to be a bit cursed for the three of them, with broken mic stands and duct-taped instruments causing hiccups. Despite that, they play such an incredible live set that it leaves you withdrawals afterward. The syrupy bass and thick guitar make slow, dark streams of energy spurred on by the crowd. Their songs are bordering on catchy for that brilliant fine line of alt-rock and punk. Full of sludgy compression, and Miles’s unfiltered energy in the drums is wincingly raw. The band continues their set with an ambidextrous skillset, the change in vocals between Nick and Miles is droning and buzzy. They ended their set with two new songs and followed up with a White Stripes cover encore. King Crawdad seems to have carved out a genre space for themselves, especially in FOCO, not much else is doing what they are doing, and certainly not at the level they are performing at. There’s a reason why they are well-loved and received.
Walking away from the show the songs Ugliest Tongue and Pedestal stood out in my mind the most, but after a thorough listen to the album I have an incredible soft spot for track 5, Beware of Dog. The lyricism is cheeky, the bassline chewy, and the vocals are the absolute cherry on top. The lyrics of the album are clever and border on the edge of something to make the band absolutely stand out, I think they are one breathtaking sentence away from crowning themselves as great lyricists in Northern Colorado. While Pedestal was a strong favorite live, I find it lacks a bit of the rumbling crunch that made it stand out so much live in its recorded version. One is cursed to have to listen to it live to experience it at its finest. Ugliest Tongue was a favorite live and continues to be a stand out of the album recorded. The vocals are velvety and strong, filling out the track and tying together the song. Overall, Serotonin Castle feels like a smart, sharp album from King Crawdad with no real skips.