CMU Approved

Approved: Crushed Beaks

By | Published on Thursday 17 November 2011

Crushed Beaks

I saw Crushed Beaks live recently, playing a very enjoyable set at The Macbeth in Shoreditch, where they flew through a collection of songs each of which had a great hook. But I couldn’t escape the nagging doubt that the joy their performance brought wouldn’t translate to record. In my head, I imagined they’d go for a rickety lo-fi sound that wasn’t very pleasing at all. Thankfully, outside my head their recordings have a much louder and fuller sound, so it all worked out well in the end.

A duo comprising vocalist/guitarist Matthew Poile and drummer Alex Morris, they are due to release their debut single next week through the Too Pure Singles Club. The two tracks on the single, ‘Close-ups’ and ‘Sun Dogs’, were apparently described as “irresponsibly loud” by an engineer at Abbey Road Studios where they were mastered. I’m not sure about that, but they do feature some pretty noisy guitar, with echo-y, layered vocals fighting to cut through to the front.

You can catch them live for yourself with Bos Angeles at The Shacklewell Arms in Dalston on Monday night. Check out the video for ‘Close-ups’ here:



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