Crooked Ways
Crimes of Passion [7 inch] (2009)
Brian Shultz
Crooked Ways get out another 7" of moderately poppy melodic hardcore, and though I haven't a clue in regards to their older stuff, Crimes of Passion is a solid listen and maybe a step up from the rest of their short discog.
While the quality of songwriting falls a few football fields short, this stuff reminds me a lot of Crime in Stereo's Explosives and the Will to Use Them. The lead guitar isn't as noodly, either, but there's some good, swift tempo changes and their singer has this agitated shout that's pretty similar to Kristian Hallbert's around that time. They're also pretty good at interlacing melodies, as shown in the chorus of opener "Make Yourself at Home" (whose bridge makes me laugh out loud a little at the closeness to CIS). Their gang vocal shouts are a little sharper, too -- maybe a bit too much, though…not quite the way all those newer pop-punk bands seem to phone 'em in, but teetering towards that a bit.
Also, I thought I was a little off thinking their guitar tone oddly sounds like old Blink-182 every now and then, but they give big ups to the band in the liner notes, so I guess I'm not that crazy. Just over a minute into "Sometimes I Sleep Naked" and during moments of the title track, the guitar riffs totally sound lifted from Cheshire Cat. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Crimes of Passion's title is totally self-explanatory. This is well-worn territory, but staked out honestly and with a fairly impressive songwriting slant to it.