Chew Yourself Right To The Bone

Crumb “Trophy”

Crumb is a band that arrived with such a fully-formed and distinctive aesthetic that it raises the question of whether they’re the sort of group who will largely remain the same for the long haul while changing in relatively minor ways – Clinic, The Fall – or the type that will mutate a few times over while retaining their identity, like Stereolab or Sonic Youth. “Trophy,” their first new single since releasing their excellent debut Jinx in 2019, is a lateral move for them, which is to say that it sounds like it could’ve been on Jinx. The drums are a little crisper and the bass is a bit warmer and womb-like, but it’s the same melodic sensibilities and stoned, vaguely dissociated vibe. Two key bits in this one: that quick swirl of sound at the end of the pause a minute into the song, and the subsequent bridge sequence in which Lila Ramani sings a few lines that give context to the zoned out passivity of the lyrics in the verses and refrains: “the test, it came back / said you’re prone to chew yourself right to the bone / I guess you don’t like to be alone.”

Buy it from Bandcamp.