Review: Killer Crush – “Killer Crush”

Laptop Punk Records, 1 June 2021

Killer Crush catches me off guard and takes me back to a time I never really knew.

Killer Crush is new to me, apparently a project between friends from Germany and New York (the New York half of the duo happens to be Vinny from The Scutches).  But Killer Crush doesn’t dig into the punk rock, instead opting for some throwback power pop.  The album is loaded with some absolute gems, guitar hooks, earworm melodies, and a certain singer-songwriter quality that lands just right.  And the recording is perfect for this sort of thing.  Killer Crush has a real warmth to it, sounding like it was recorded on analog equipment (though maybe it wasn’t considering the typical Laptop Punk Records modus operandi).  It sounds real and avoids any all-too-clean feel.  

A bunch of my favorite songs on Killer Crush remind me of luminaries like Big Star, Matthew Sweet, and The Raspberries.  Songs like opener “Wait” lean into some country-fied tones, with gorgeous acoustic guitar strums and a little slide guitar to go along with sincere vocals singing lovely lines like “I’ll wait for you, I’ll wait for us too”.   Follow-up “The City” has a cool melodic lead guitar and a real strong Big Star vibe, or maybe something like Matthew Sweet’s Altered Beast song “Someone to Pull the Trigger”.  And on “The City” some of my favorite vocal hooks on the record blend with beautiful cascading guitar chords.  It’s positively wonderful.  Others have their own unique hooks.  “French Kiss” kicks around at mid-tempo with chugging buzzing guitars that go all wide-eyed when the band goes unrestrained on the chorus while “Maria” hooks with a single-syllable lyrical phrasing that effuses a hope to “see your face again next summer”.  And one of my favorites, the closing “Love Song”, has a swagger to it that matches a beautiful slide guitar, a sort of nursery rhyme melody, and revelatory backing vocals.  This is some great stuff.

Killer Crush also thrives because of its song sequencing and changes of pace.  Songs like “Street Lights”, with its chugging power pop guitar chords and everything-drops-out chorus ends, and “Plain And Simple”, which has maybe more pace than anything else on here and pairs the drive with some great jangling guitar chords, are excellent.  “My Love Is Gone” also has a bunch of uptempo thrust, some of my favorite lead guitar and backing vocals on the record, and an absolutely infectious rhythm guitar melody.  And when Killer Crush goes intimate, as on “Make The Rain Go Away”, the vocals are unassuming and reverbed, sort of sounding like a restrained Jim James (of My Morning Jacket).  And the subtle singing sounds sweet and melancholy over the sparse acoustic guitar.  Everytime I listen to this one, I get transported in my head to the Pacific Northwest, hanging out on the beach while a gentle mist and fog comes rolling on shore.  Both the quicker and the slower songs are cleverly interspersed throughout the record to give off good pacing.

Killer Crush has a hold on me.  It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it ended up being some of the better power pop I’ve heard in some time.  I know some might think I’m crazy to toss off comparisons to artists like Big Star and Matthew Sweet, but I’m sticking by it.  The songcraft is really well developed, the hooks are contagious, and the gorgeous moments pick me up.  Don’t sleep on this one.   

Favorite song: “The City”

Favorite moment: the nursery rhyme-esque melody on “Love Song”

Favorite whatever else: the intimate vocals on “Make The Rain Go Away”