CROCODILES

Two guys obsessed with the UK, ex of The Plot to Blow up the Eiffel Tower and various other projects.

Listen Here (mp3 at bottom of post...)

I sent some questions over and they both answered them seperately (with some overlap...)

First up, BRANDON

What are your top Five records that relate to the music you make with Crocodiles?

These aren't necessarily my top 5 records in the whole world, or even necessarily my 5 favorite bands (though I do LOVE them) but they definitely inform what we're doing to a huge degree. These aren't in any order either.

1) Spacemen 3 - Playing With Fire
2) Beatles - Yellow Submarine/Revolver
3) Suicide - S/T
4) V/A - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era
5) Jesus & Mary Chain - Darklands
6) Primal Scream - Screamadelica/XTRMNTR
7) Dr. Alimantado - Best Dressed Chicken In Town
8) Birthday Party - Prayers On Fire
9) Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request
10) PIL - Metal Box




Sorry, I know this is double the amount of records you asked me to list but I couldn't narrow it down! It's funny because I've seen a few people criticize us online for wearing our influences on our sleeve. We have nothing to hide - we're throwing all the stuff we grew up on and love into a blender, mixing it with copious amounts of marijuana and a severe lack of sleep and seeing what we come up with.

Top Five recent bands you've got into? (Pictures below are linked to myspaces.)

In no particular order:

Dum Dum Girls - She is a brilliant songwriter and as a close friend of hers, I know she is not aping C86 as so many other bands are. She gets lumped in with this post-C86 movement, but I hear a love of girl groups and american garage-punk and stuff like Siouxsie Sioux. Movements are bad!



Reading Rainbow - This is a great new band from Philadelphia. Total bedroom psychedelic punk. Simple, catchy and brainy at the same time. If that makes sense...



Catatonic Youth - Don't know much about these cats ( or is it just one cat? ) other than their Piss Scene 7" is borderline perfect. To me, sounds like early SST punk (when Keith Morris was still singing in a British accent) mixed with the mind bending qualities of early Suicide or even a love of Dub. No idea if this is accurate or how this band sees themselves but that's what I hear.



Spirit Photography - This is a band from San Diego that features 2/3rds of Christmas Island. Rather than referencing Flying Nun and that era though, this band is informed by 13th Floor Elevators, Krautrock and Spacemen 3. I adore their upcoming 7" and we try to play with them as often as possible.



The Soft Pack - Disclaimer: These guys are old friends and even feature an ex-bandmate, but their music shreds. They are probably in the process of blowing up in the UK right now.



You've toured the Uk before in your old band what's your favourite city and your favourite british bands of yesteryear and NOW.

My favorite British city? Kind of hard to say - London is so much fun and we have good friends there, but we also have good friends in Sheffield so we always have a blast there as well. Manchester is amazing. We got to have an all-night bender with Mark E. Smith there about 2 years ago. It would be so hard for me to name my favorite british bands of yesteryear - probably a third or even half of my favorite bands are British. As cliche as it is to say, my all time favorite bands are the Sex Pistols and the Beatles. I don't know, I could probably list 100 records by UK bands that would rank in my favorites.

If there was one thing you could change about the music industry what would it be?

I'm pretty uncomfortable with the idea of movements. They are usually something created by lazy journalists and they discourage individuality. Take for example this current lo-fi thing or this current C86 thing: It's just becoming redundant. I am so much more into the idea of bands who sound nothing alike touring together and playing shows together. If the focus was on being as different from your peers as possible, rather than being as similar to your peers as possible, music would be much more fun, interesting and forward thinking. I've noticed somehow every band in the world right now seems to be "influenced" by the Wipers. I find this hard to believe - I think one or two bands truly were influenced by the Wipers and they in turn influenced a hundred other bands. Those bands in turn claim to have always loved the Wipers, when in fact they heard them for the first time last year. These movements and trends make me uncomfortable.

What are your ambitions beside making music?

I would like to paint more and I'd also like to write more stories. It would be nice to escape this abject poverty that I've been living in my whole adult life as well, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Who or what inspired you to start making music?

I found bands like the Ramones, Sex Pistols and Black Flag extremely inspiring when I was 12. I could play their songs on guitar with little effort and the things they were singing about (particularly Black Flag) I could really relate to. "The First Four Years" should be required listening for all pre-teens. I think it would drive the teen suicide rate down and there would probably be a whole lot less fist fights.
And finally have you any plans to release a record and tour over in Europe and the UK?
Yes, our album Summer Of Hate will be available in the UK via Fat Possum. We are coming over the last two weeks of June to tour with PENS, who we are doing a split 7" with on Art Fag Recordings.

And now CHARLES

What are your top Five records that relate to the music you make with Crocodiles?

As you will see Brandon and I are pretty connected head-wise.

1. Suicide - s/t
2. Primal Scream - XTRMNTR
3. Spacemen 3 - Playing With Fire
4. Kraftwerk - Man-Machine
5. Stooges - Fun House



Top Five recent bands you've got into?
Nite Jewel (usa) - Kate Bushy warm dance stuff pop.



Internet Forever (uk) - Perrrrrfect messy pop.

Pens (uk) - London chicks great gooy fuzzy pop.


Reading Rainbow (usa) - Great Philly pop.

Spirit Photography (usa) - Wicked San Diego pop.

You've toured the Uk before in your old band what's your favourite city and your favourite british bands of yesteryear and NOW.

Manchester will always be my favourite city. I love it. I've been quite obsessed with it. I would like to go to Macclesfield which is a little south because apparently I have some lineage back to that place on my grandfather's side. With that being said, my favourite british bands are either from Manchester (Happy Mondays, Durutti Column, Oasis) or Scotland (Orange Juice, JAMC, Primal Scream), generally, though that is not the rule. I do love London groups alot too (Sex Pistols, The Stones). I can also go into grave detail about the cities I don't like (i.e. Swindon, Leeds, and Portsmouth).

If there was one thing you could change about the music industry what would it be?

It's changed itself alot over that last few years. It's alot easier to get your music noticed and in front of fresh ears. It is still the same however with actually traveling, it is still really difficult to get booking agents to want you. This is something Brandon and I have dealt since the dark ages. I would like to see some general government funding like that have in Sweden or Netherlands but then people would probably get pretty lazy. I hate working two jobs but at least it keeps me sharp. I suppose it is what it is though and it's difficulties are mearly speed bumps if you just work hard and be smart (and sexy).

What are your ambitions beside making music?

I have written a few pieces and they have been printed and are in rotation. Both are now out of print however. I am embarrassed that I am not writing more. It was my passion before music. I am sure it will flare back up soon, it always does. I just went through a rough patch so that didn't help. In my twilight years, my thirties or fourties haha, I would imagine myself recording, and touring comfortably with Crocs and just writing ALOT MORE! Though I have always wanted to be a star left back for Manchester United.

Who or what inspired you to start making music?

My dad is the person who turned me on to it. He was an avid record collector and everyday of my life was a music lesson, and a life lesson. He was the greatest person to have around because of his wealth of knowledge. Not only did he turn me onto all the cool punk shite we adore (PIL, Television, Minutemen), he also knew about nearly everything else in music. Growing up with that around of course I had grown big ears (and a big nose! haha). I would stare at his posters and just image myself in them.

And finally have you any plans to release a record and tour over in Europe and the UK?

ASAP. The record comes out April 28th I believe.

Here's an mp3 of Neon Jesus courtesy of the band

Crocodiles - Neon Jesus

More posts coming sooner than this one did after the last one.