As soon as I punched play on this sucker, the first thought that popped into my noggin was: ‘I’ll bet my left one that these mofos are a power trio from somewhere in the Midwest.’ And sure as shit, Sherlock, they turn out to be three dudes from Grand Rapids. I’m not sure what tipped me off: Maybe it was the songs that fearlessly and seamlessly fuse classic grunge riffage and heft with dashes of sludge, stoner, punk, metal, prog, alt-rock, post-hardcore and pretty much anything and everything fast, hard and heavy. Maybe it was the singer’s vocals, which range from threatening aggression to full-throated bellow to unhinged howl. Or maybe it’s just the down-to-earth, no-bullshit approach to every aspect of this sophomore album. Whatever it is, I reckon you’ll know it when you hear it too. And you’ll want to hear it plenty. And plenty loud.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Grand Rapids’ own Crooked Heart bring an aggressive post-hardcore sound with hints of stoner metal, prog, and punk. Born out of the classified ads of Craigslist, Crooked Heart formed in 2013 turned heads with their two EPs: The Winter EP and Are You Home? Drummer Aaron Mace, bassist Tony Molina, and vocalist/guitarist Elijah Wyman released their first full-length album Stranger Things… in 2017 and their second LP Perpetual Twilight in June 2020.”
