Manchester’s alt-indie band Cruush (stylised as ‘cruush’) are a shoegaze four-piece consisting of Amber (vocals and guitar), Arthur (guitar), Fotis (drums) and Charlie (bass). They are signed to Heist or Hit and last year released their debut EP ‘Wishful Thinker’, which was followed last month by their ‘Nice Things Now, All The Time’ EP. The outfit are set to headline Brighton’s popular Green Door Store on Thursday 30th May and tickets are on sale right now and can be located HERE.
“So what are Cruush all about?” I hear you cry! Well quite possibly the best way to let you know is to refer back to our review on the band when they headlined at The Hope & Ruin in Brighton on 30th August last year. Here’s our account:
Cruush began their set with a grungy shoegaze soundscape with Amber’s haunting voice joining later in the song. This complex, almost contrasting, mix of music and vocals was the foundation of their sound. Based on this, Cruush added variations across the songs in their set. ‘Wishful Thinker’, the title track of their debut EP, had a My Bloody Valentine sound, on which Amber screamed the lyrics with an echo effect. While ‘Headspace’ had a slower tempo and was both very intricate and intense, reminiscent of Slowdive.
Cruush aren’t a throwback to the shoegaze bands of the 1990’s, but have their own very fresh approach and sound. Some of their songs were played much faster with a harsher, more brutal grunge edge. On the intro of one song Charlie played bass with a violin bow, demonstrating the band’s experimental side.
They closed their set with ‘False Start’, a layered shoegaze sound with interesting changes of speed during the song. Amber’s vocals included howling like a banshee as well as ethereal singing on this song.
It was a real shame that Cruush had to cut their set short due to the curfew. We didn’t get to hear the final song ‘Cotton Wool’ and ‘Bckward 36’ was also cut from their setlist. Despite lots of calls for them to play an extra track, the regulations meant they couldn’t.
Cruush gave a great performance full of intensity, beauty and variety, and were one of the best new bands I’ve seen this year.
Vocalist and frontperson Amber has described the band’s music as having “the sweet elements of having a crush on someone but the screeching of an industrial car crusher.” I think that is spot on based on what I heard on Wednesday.
Cruush:
Amber Warren – vocals and guitar
Arthur Boyd – guitar
Fotis Kalantzis – drums
Charlie Hogg – bass
Cruush setlist:
‘LULL’
‘As She Goes’
‘Stick in the Mud’
‘Wishful Thinking’
‘Headspace’
‘6/8’
‘DADDAD’
‘False Start’
