Stagger Stagger Crawl

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About Stagger Stagger Crawl

My review of Déjà Vu Ultraman Déjà Vu Ultraman is what most CDs sound like before a slick producer steps in and sucks the life and quirks out of them. Don't misunderstand -- this is no demo. Rather, it is a DIY recording made by guys who've been doing this for the last ten years and who therefore know that, at the end of the day, it is the songs, and not the fad they fit into, that matter. There's nothing really different or special about Stagger Stagger Crawl's approach to songwriting, performance or recording techniques, but their music has a peculiar spark that makes it interesting. Maybe it's something to do with the sound of non-looped guitar tracks, which are delivered here with their imperfect, jaggedy bits intact (no ProTools finesse needed here). Perhaps it's the "live" feel and the energy and emotion that accompany the band's abandon. Rich Krolak's voice is certainly something to be desired -- it gleefully avoids the latest indie-rock trends for sugary, "Jimmy Eat World" style uniformity, instead suggesting a Stan Ridgway bark-meets-Lou Reed bite. It's a tip-of-the-tongue resemblance, with dozens of "hey, that sounds like..." comparisons trapped just outside the range of concrete verbalization. On top of all these valuable traits, SSC's ability to turn the obvious into something wonderful that makes Déjà Vu Ultraman a treat. Their ideas and motives are nothing new, but historically, that's the way to do it (think of Beethoven's Fifth, Steve Reich's entire catalog or Nirvana's Nevermind). "Dali/Dolly" takes the words to "Mary Had a Little Lamb", has its way with them, and spits out a rocking tune laden with aggression and cynicism ("everywhere that lamby went the pain was sure to go"). "You Suck", with lyrics like "Sometimes I wake up on the wrong side of the bed", suggests eye-rolling cliché -- but SSC really went there, and they've brought back proof. Krolak sounds so much like a desperate man on the back-end of a three-day binge, badly in need of a cigarette and coffee, that he must have recorded the vocal after an exhausting weekend in Tijuana. Most of the tracks follow this rule, overturning assumptions and expectations left and right. Stagger Stagger Crawl's couldn't-care-less-about-fame attitude gives them an advantage over most alt-rock radio darlings. They sound like they've been hardened by the system, and their working-man ethic is channeled into an emphatic middle-finger to the majors. They are free from labels and can rock or roll or twang or...well, do pretty much whatever the hell they want to do. And on Déjà Vu Ultraman, it pays off. -- Dave Madden

Taken from Last.fm

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