Kills Birds - Crave 

The Los Angeles-based band’s first new material since 2021 second album ‘Married’, the five-track ‘Crave’ is as much a welcome reminder of the power of thrashing guitars and guttural vocal roars to provide catharsis, as it is a (re)introduction to Kills Birds. Opener ‘Behind’ rattles with post-hardcore ferocity, its quiet/loud dynamic pressing all the right buttons, while ‘Madison’ takes the duality further, reducing vocalist Nina Ljeti’s vocal – which elsewhere echoes Karen O’s emotion-wielding high notes at its breaks, and Brody Dalle’s throaty roar at its most guttural - to a whisper, skillfully foreboding the song’s eventual crash. ‘Trace’ allows for a switch around, the hook provided by the guitar line, and while ‘Pyre’ is somewhat of a take-it-or-leave-it also ran, closer ‘Hollow’ saves the best for last: big, grungey guitars clamouring for attention with another giant chorus, delivering truly thrilling results.