Crocodylus
It’s been a minute. Sydney’s Guringai (Northern Beaches) garage / rock three piece Crocodylus have been held up in a recording studio these past months working on new music. Today they are excited to unveil the first fruits of that labour with not one but two new songs, their first release since 2020.
‘YOU’ is a classic jangly surf rock song with a catchy as hell chorus which takes an unexpected turn at the end. Lead vocalist Josh Williams explains: “’YOU’ was an idea I explored for a while. The chorus came naturally and I built around that. The last addition to the song was a lead line kind of inspired by one of my favourite bands The Ruminaters.”
‘Unnecessary Pressure’ is a psyched out / 60’s stomper. “’Unnecessary Pressure’ stemmed from a bit of writer’s block and the pressure I put on myself to write music. I wrote the phaser riff years ago when demoing with a friend, back when the original title was ‘Masturbation’. My favourite part is the B-52’s sounding organ in the chorus,” Josh explained.
The video for ‘YOU’ and ‘Unnecessary Pressure’ combines the two and encompasses the feeling for both songs perfectly. Directed by long time band collaborator Jamieson Kerr the video opens with ‘YOU’ and a central character, played by Imogen Chen, who embodies the sense of disconnection one can feel when immersed in an uncaring, indifferent, and inhospitable environment in contrast to nature and the restorative feelings one gets when leaving the city behind for the countryside. Drummer Mikel Salvador said “It’s about pressure of being stacked on top of one another, of boredom, of the monotony of routine. It then gives way to calmness, assuredness, and the realisation that maybe we are all doing it wrong stacked up in our concrete routines.”
The video then stays in the countryside and links straight into the raucous ‘Unnecessary Pressure’ which, as Mikel said, “is just us having fun on a farm.”
To celebrate the release of new music Crocodylus are excited to announce their east coast ‘YOU’ Tour. Kicking off at The Workers Club in Naarm / Melbourne on Friday 26th August, the band then head up to Meeanjin / Brisbane at Black Bear Lodge on Friday 2nd September and Eora / Sydney at Mary’s Underground on Saturday 3rd September.
After 3 EP’s and 2020’s ‘Social Climber’ and ‘Camouflage’ releases, it’s a new dawn for Crocodylus with the release of ‘YOU’ and ‘Unnecessary Pressure’. It marks the start of an exciting period for the band which will see the release of their debut album they’ve been working on with Jake ‘Pencil’ Voroshine from fellow Guringai band Le Shiv in the producer chair.
“Over the heavy pandemic periods, there have certainly ups and downs,” guitarist Stephen Sacco said. “Having minimal to no shows to play was unfortunate but it also meant we could use the lockdown and restricted periods to our advantage to demo, record and prepare our debut album properly,” he continued. “We've been sitting on it for a minute, but it's been incubating long enough, and needs to see fresh air,” Mikel added. “We'll be touring extensively in support of it. So look out for us!”
Josh, Stephen and Mikel formed Crocodylus in high school in 2015. The band have built up a fervent fan base in Australia and around the world ever since. They also have gained much respect in the artist community as one of the hardest working bands around, performing at every opportunity including regional Australia with Skegss, nationally with The Chats, tri-headlining with A. Swayze & The Ghosts and Voiid, as well as popping up for hometown shows supporting the likes of Ocean Alley, Dune Rats, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Hockey Dad, The Jungle Giants and more. Throw in some festival appearances across the country at Panama, NYE on The Hill, Bad Friday, Yours & Owls and Sounds of the Suburbs and a couple of sold out headline dates along the East Coast for good measure. In 2022, The Crocs are stepping it up to exciting new heights.
