Philadelphia psychedelic noise rock band Creepoid recently made their third full-length album, Cemetery Highrise Slum, available for streaming via Spin in anticipation of its release on June 23rd. To celebrate the release, the band will perform at Johnny Brenda’s on June 26th with support from Ecstatic Vision and Sick Feeling.
Creepoid’s music is an acquired taste, and your relationship with it might remind you of your feelings for black coffee. When you first start drinking it, you wonder why anyone would drink this bitter substance that makes you jittery and uncomfortable. But after days of experiencing the lack of sweetened additives, you realize this is the way it was meant to be consumed. Listening to Creepoid is like looking at a reflection of the modern world that only shows the things that are pure and natural, while leaving out any of the fake sweeteners. The result is a record that puts you in tune with the often overlooked emotions that surround loss, bitterness, and a dire search for meaning.
“American Smile” is the lead track, and perhaps the most straightforward on the album. The instrumentals are equal parts beautiful and dissonant, while the vocals further paint the picture of how they see reality. Vocalist Sean Miller allures to the sickness that surrounds people who don’t want to accept things how they are, “You’re searching for your voice, but you barely make a sound,” and “now are you crumbling in the throws of the gritty overgrowth? / the filth it overcomes, it seeps into your bones.”
“Shaking” is an exclamation of what it’s like being in a whirlwind of loss. The track starts soft and dreamy, and slowly builds that into a wreck of emotional chaos. Miller explains beauty turned to turmoil amidst pounding instruments, singing “you’re shaking my heart / you shook me from the start.” “Dried Out” speeds up the tempo, and is notably held together by a distorted, fuzzy bass line. The guitar work is slightly punchy in the verses, but during the chorus they screech as Miller sings dreamlike metaphors. The song ends with the repeated line “show me the real you, shine on until it’s gone,” a resounding statement that holds even more weight coming from a group of musicians that put all their stuff in storage units because they plan on touring indefinitely.
The album’s title, Cemetery Highrise Slum, is a stark reflection of the world humans have created for themselves. Then again, it is not hard to think of it that way when Creepoid makes such a strong emotional case through their surreal lyrics and dark instrumentals. While they might see their surroundings as a Cemetery Highrise Slum, Creepoid’s vibe somehow still recognizes and encapsulates the beauty that any of us are here at all.
Below, listen to the previously-released singles. Stream the whole album at Spin, and pre-order the record here (out June 23rd via Collect Records). Get tickets to their record release show, Friday 6/26 at Johnny Brenda’s, here.
Image via Facebook.
PhillyPunk 