Crast’s “Swimming” (Single/Video)

While the mainstream presence of harder rock music might be waning, on the left side of the dial, the genre seems to be going stronger than ever thanks to the efforts of acts like Crast. Crast’s new music video for their single “Swimming” sets fire to the standard pop/rock blueprint a lot of major label bands would employ when crafting an entire full-length studio album in the name of melding together seemingly conflictive influences, and if you’re into alternative music that really is an alternative to the average, it should be right up your alley this month. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crastband/?hl=en

There’s definitely a heavily punkish attitude to the aggression we hear in “Swimming,” but it’s kept in check by a jazz-like consideration for the construction of the groove, and more specifically, the intricate beats that push forth the verse. There aren’t any components of the harmony that aren’t somehow joined to a percussive pulsation in the background, making every movement from inside of the melody feel like one joint physical force bearing down on us from all sides. It’s invasive and occasionally overwhelming, but if you’re looking at the way it was structured, it would appear as though it was meant to be this way. 

It really impressed me to find out that not only are Crast a young up and coming band of musicians, but “Swimming” is actually a cut off of their very first EP. They undeniably sound like a band with a lot more experience under their belts here, and one would have to assume that if they’re already this skilled at compositional concepts and putting them together with music videos, they’re going to be an amazingly progressive act as they come into their own in the next few years. This is an amazing way to kick-start stardom, and particularly in a time that could use savvier rockers. 

The percussion does tend to spill over into the strings in a few critical moments, but if you’re into the other left-field elements in the melodic half of the instrumentation, you’re going to find this to be another great point of interest in “Swimming.” The song’s colors run together and yet fail to muddy in the process, leaving us with what sounds and feels like a collage of violent rhythm, rhyme and tonality packaged for those who go for indie pop as much as they do a headier strain of alternative hard rock. 

Rock fans of all backgrounds need to check out what Crast are up to in “Swimming” as well as the single’s parent EP this fall, as theirs could absolutely be one of the slicker sounds of its kind you hear in 2020 overall. This is one of the only genres of constant critical debate that relentlessly refuses to fall into obscurity, and if you take into account the passion that bands like this have for its most abstract of elemental foundations, it begins to make sense why. Real rock n’ roll will never die, and Crast are going to do their part to make it so. 

Mindy McCall