Introducing… Senile Crocodile

Here at Bearded we aim to shed light on acts who don't necessarily have giant labels or muscley budgets waving banners behind them. This Introducing series will focus on artists who we think are great, regardless of how much hype surrounds them or where their origin story lays.

Bio
Name: Senile Crocodile
Location: Hull, UK
Genre: Post-pop/psych-rock
Similar Artists: Thee Oh Sees, Battles, Pond
Contact: Facebook, Twitter
Events: Playing the John Peel Tribute Weekend October 27, new single November 1

Harking from that Northern zeitgeisty hub, Hull, home to acts like Fatboy Slim, most of Sade and Throbbing Gristle, are Senile Crocodile. There's an underappreciated but vivacious DIY scene in the city, spouting all manner of guitar-based goodies into the ether, with Senile Crocodile repping the '70s psych revival. They frolic with woozy riffs that owe a debt to acts like Primus and Rush, and toy with the conventions of rock like a child punching Playdough. Expect time signatures to be warped, rhythms to trip and brains to be melted.



The trio have recently (end of summer) released their eponymous debut EP, with four tracks of gooey Guitar Hero friendly guitar music. There are threads of pop, but this will largely please those with a love of tie-dye noodling, raucous percussion and fans of Foxygen or Pond – there's a leviathan prog wave within tracks like 'Modem', with its rampant FX-pedal flippancy, and you can be sure that its a fantastical journey of erratic space, classic and po-rock noises. On 'Terms & Conditions' it appears as if they're vying for a early Red Hot Chili Peppers kind of vibe; frantic bass grooves canoodle with semi-rapped lyrics and the distorted tsunami of axe chords.

Often, Senile Crocodile seem to be out to alienate the listener – the sound they peddle is unlike anything on the shelves nowadays, and even their contemporaries seem to be harnessing a stronger commercial streak. The amount that this psychedelic threesome chop-'n'-change their m.o. is simultaneously obtuse and fascinating; one minute you're whooshed back four decades to a land of dusty American legends, the next your plonked into nu-punk experiments.

TraampWalk by Senile Crocodile from Ballooning Brain Records on Vimeo.

You'd think that they'd take a breather after unfurling their first release, but no – on November 1, they release 'Traampwalk', a new single, as a free download. Grab it over on their Bandcamp page and have your head filled with aural dynamite, primed to blow your mind.