In just about three years and three albums, Boston-based “murder pop” underground outfit Crippling Alcoholism have carved themselves a unique niche in which they have rapidly been evolving and earning the full attention of a devoted following originating from broad and eclectic backgrounds. Which is testament to the wide appeal of their music even though on paper, this shouldn’t work beyond the confines of very specific underground sub-genres. And yet, in spite of the mathcore and acid jazz roots of the project and the repulsive nature of the topics they tend to tackle with their art; Crippling Alcoholism seem capable of taking the filthiest aspects of human nature and turning horror into velvety songs with pop sensibilities that ensnare the ears with dangerous efficiency.
Although CAMGIRL is their most hook-centric and synth-heavy work thus far, that doesn’t mean they’ll be opening for Sabrina Carpenter anytime soon either. The band’s signature way of instantly creating a sense of uneasiness through ominous dissonance and sudden shifts in song structure equaling to auditive manic meltdowns, keeping listeners on their toes, is still very much a part of their sound. There’s a reason Portrayal Of Guilt picked them to join the roster of their independent label after all. It’s just that now, echoing the many unsavoury yet oddly charismatic fictional characters they use as vessels to tell their disturbing stories, the music itself is much more nuanced and complex on this new record.
The album’s grotesque artwork reflects that balance between comfort and disturbing oddity. The neon pink may appear inviting, perhaps even soothing from a distance, but upon closer inspection, one cannot help but be puzzled, grossed out or even horrified by the uncanny and obscene figure staring back with sadistic glee or harrowing torment depending on how you interpret it. For every catchy vocal hook or lush synth and keys arrangement is a violent or desperate outburst of harsher vocals, 808’s or frantic disembodied drumming hammering in the unsettling reality of what bubbles beneath the surface of accessible and tantalizing beauty.
These contrasts not only embody the different traits of the various characters that exist within CAMGIRL, but also the thematical pillar for the album’s overall atmosphere ; the world of sex-workers and especially in the digital realm. But the album doesn’t necessarily focus on sex-workers themselves, it doesn’t seek to glamorise or chastise. Rather, it continues to explore the idea of control which was already present in both previous albums, although in different settings. Whether that may be the control lust as an addiction and its pursuit has over a specific character or the impersonal sadistic control another character may feel knowing there’s a human being on the other side of their screen they can toy with and humiliate in exchange for money.
While not every track off of CAMGIRL necessarily exists within that world, each track still very much presents this idea of either unassuming or inviting facades concealing unspeakable horror and decay, as early as album opener ‘Mr. Sentimental’ and its impliedly incestuous serial killer character who says it best :«Prying eyes often end up envying the blind». As his terrible secret is revealed over the course of the track, what starts out as a conventionally structured song with an effective use of repeated vocal hooks eventually devolves into a chaotic and monstrous breakdown of drums, electronics and gnarled vocals that are no longer able to utter coherent words.
Throughout the album, the inclusion of guest vocalist Juliet E. Gordon from the Brooklyn experimental rock band Luxury Skin greatly contributes to bringing the album’s characters and feminine identity to life. At times singing in tandem with vocalist Tony Castrati or otherwise adopting a broad range of voices embodying the diversity of CAMGIRL‘s seedy cast of characters, ranging from sensual to spiteful and eventually culminating in vindicated, unbridled rage during the album’s closing track ‘despair’.
Fourth track ‘Pay Pigs’ is perhaps the most perfect amalgamation of the band’s sound across their three albums into one song since it has that unpredictable raw chaotic energy from their debut, the more theatrical and brooding atmospheres and sound design of their sophomore while also incorporating the more focused songwriting style and polished synth work CAMGIRL puts forwards and it just works wonders. Danny Sher’s volatile yet precise drumming crisply cuts through the thicker layers of guitars and synths while Tony sounds especially convincing in the unstable and tortured nature of his vocal delivery.
On the other hand, tracks like ‘LADIES NIGHT’ and ‘bedrot’ (whose synths feel like they could have been plucked from some of The Cure‘s hits) are perfect examples of the direction Crippling Alcoholism have put forwards for this release, building these songs around hooks that are guaranteed to stick and doubling-down on the synth and ambient guitar parts that create the perfect sonic environment for these hooks to land efficiently.
But of course, with each track reflecting the personality of different, generally unstable characters, things never become predictable. Especially when tracks like ‘Pretty In Pink’, the closest thing to a love song Crippling Alcoholism have written thus far, can go from expressing deep romantic longing with dramatic gothic synth and piano embellishments, to abruptly morphing into cacophonic breakdowns.
However, the album’s most eclectic and experimental track is perhaps its title track which ranges from blast beats and blackgaze vocals to intricate synth arrangements while still managing to throw in one of the most satisfying vocal lines of the album despite not being one of the “hooks songs”.
With the band having jokingly referred to themselves as “David Bowie in hell” in the past, there is a slight comparison that could be drawn with Bowie‘s very own conceptual and experimental 1995 album Outside, which shares a similarly disturbing concept of tracking a serial killer that uses body parts to create artworks. CAMGIRL‘s interlude track ‘screentime’ is even faintly reminiscent of that album musically, with its gorgeous piano runs coexisting with unsettling dissonance and suffocating atonality.
CAMGIRL shares that same opaque cinematic quality in its world building, although perhaps less Lynchian and more Fincher meets A24 horror. Each track could easily be its own short auteur film but the album as a whole offers the musical equivalent of stepping into a dichromatic pitch black and neon pink Noir movie, delving under a city’s underbelly that becomes more and more inescapable the deeper one goes and uncovers its secrets.
As the rain beats down in the city’s darkest alleyways and the feeling of being followed at every corner becomes overwhelming, you enter a run-down strip club with blinking pink neon lights in search of refuge. Greeted by the sound of the house band playing a mixture of noise rock, coldwave and goth rock with the sleekness of jazz and the youthfulness of trap rap, you feel a sudden cold sharp pain between your ribs and your vision begins to blur as the neons fade to black.
That’s how CAMGIRL sounds and feels.
One thing that is certain however, is that this so-far underground strip club or dive bar is starting to draw in quite a crowd and a venue upgrade might soon be needed following the release of CAMGIRL. Which is convenient since Crippling Alcoholism‘s UK debut and their appearance at Damnation Festival is only a couple of months away now and it is certain to be one for the books. Catch them playing these new songs before they get too big and be part of the “cool kids” club while you still can. If Crippling Alcoholism maintain this pace and momentum, they might very well end up being one of the hottest things to come out of the underground in recent years and become your favourite band’s favourite band, if it isn’t the case already.