“This Is Crowland” is the latest release by 9 o’clock Nasty, a prolific English band based in Leicester. It’s their first piece of work this year, arriving after many singles and remixes releases during 2023 and 2024. As usual, the bans incorporated some of the finest ideas and outstanding orchestrations into these songs. They always break the rules and shapeshift boundaries of so many music genres to illustrate such a rich and luxuriant sound. Each composition arrives with so many impressive sonic maneuvers that you’ll gladly spin “This Is Crowland” over and over again. Perhaps punk rock comes to mind first, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from post-punk, garage, hip-hop, industrial, and even some electronic music. Their sound continuously levitates between nostalgic eighties, nineties, and naughties yet they infuse more than necessary modern techniques and approaches to elevate their music to new heights. Therefore, they have created a fresh, unique, versatile, innovative, and entertaining material fully stacked with incredible songs that immediately grab you by the collar and refuse to let go long after this material ends.
As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how the vocals serve as a centerpiece, uplifting all those segments and instrumentations to an entirely new level, commanding attention, and guiding the listening apparatus throughout the entire album. 9 o’clock Nasty thought about the lyrics and vocal arrangements so much, so each layer contributes emotional depths and complexity over an already intricate song structure. Of course, their recognizable wittiness, paired with profoundly detailed lyrics, makes this material even more appealing to the ears. These skilled musicians combine melodic vocal lines, shouts, and other vocal techniques to make particular moments or entire songs more unique, and they’ve done it with such style. You’ll notice how these vocal harmonies seamlessly glide over low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing everything 9 o’clock Nasty intended to achieve with their music. Also, 9 o’clock Nasty stacked this material with the additional back vocals and singalongs, giving some tracks anthemic vibes that sound so catchy, memorable, and engaging. Also, you’ll notice how the interplays between guitars and synths construct a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. The comprehensive collection of impressive riffs, chord progressions, harmonies, melodies, and other sonic maneuvers delivered through multiple guitar layers perfectly match the synth leads, themes, sequences, and accentuations. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these instrumental layers articulate together without overwhelming each other. Each layer has its place to breathe and resonate in this sonic equation, creating such a lush atmosphere that immediately wraps around your ears.
Like all those already mentioned instrumentations, the bass guitar plays a significant role in this sonic equation. You’ll hear those warm or generously distorted, intricate, audible basslines rumble and roar beneath guitars and synths, offering heftiness, clearness, and deepness while binding all those orchestrations with rhythmic patterns. These low-ends are rich, deep, dense, and heavy, and they contribute more than necessary power to these tracks. In the meantime, the comprehensive collection of organic and electronic beats keeps the remainder of the instrumentations in line while dictating groove and tempo. You’ll be surprised how much time and effort these experienced musicians invested in a rhythm section, with all those cleverly assembled, flawlessly performed and programmed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics lurking around and keeping this material so groovy, punchy, and organized. You’ll notice how each hit of the snare, kick of the bass drum, and splash over the cymbals cuts the atmosphere, bringing more detail and depth to this impressive full-length album. 9 o’clock Nasty thought about even the tiniest details, nuances, and accentuations while writing, composing, arranging, recording, and producing this material, so if the guitar and synth works act as a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon, then the bass and drums serve as a backbone, holding everything together throughout the entire album. The band also thought about sound quality, so “This Is Crowland” meets all the trends in modern music production. You’ll hear each instrument and vocal line in the mix, so a pleasant listening experience is more than guaranteed.
Tracks like “Crowland,” “Unkle Natur,” “Smash Grab And Go,” “The Wrong Guy,” “Hot Disco Shit,” “For The Sugar,” “Pusher Needs A Haircut,” “Shrink Wrap,” “Bad Monkey,” “Cheat The Devil,” and “Dead Pilot” are the highlights of this material, but you should pay attention to the remainder of the album because 9 o’clock Nasty created a masterpiece that expertly blends punk rock, post-punk, garage, synth, and hip-hop music. Their experimental nature is more than vividly hearable here, as they deliver an entire amalgam of catchy, memorable, engaging compositions that immediately get into your ears and refuse to let go. Each vocal harmony, each instrumental and rhythmic maneuver, outstanding production, all these qualities shine at “This Is Crowland,” making it one of their greatest works so far. Therefore, you should place this incredible full-length on your music radar. The album is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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