CRUSHED - extra life
Flashes of euphoria from sunny Los Angeles, in sturdy display for listening that becomes magnetic and impressive, with a remarkable ability on the part of the two band members to probe, experiment and assemble multiple approaches, perfectly united under the label 'songs to make you dream dancing'.
It only takes six tracks to swim through the appendages of the 90s with an effective dusting, to remove some lumps and replace them with almost invisible electronic scores. The lyrics move from relationship difficulties, to drug use, to romantic moments walking down the street of life, to the realisation of necessary new languages, to dreams. Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan sound like American apostles of The Sundays, but they also do not forget to look inside the cosy home of Curve, for a form of expression that allows itself the luxury of stepping out of Dreampop and Shoegaze in order to fill the compositions with Trip Hop ingredients that definitely conquer.
Bedside is the EP's high point, for a deep yet dreamy lyric and a musical attitude that may remind us of Alanis Morissette embracing Natalie Imbruglia.
But it is with Respawn that the old scribe realises that the duo's pop nature is deadly simple and effervescent. Nothing to add except that our days would also need compositions like these, because in the end we would find ourselves with an extra splendid smile...
Alex Dematteis
Musicshockworld
Salford
17th February 2023
https://crushedworldwide.bandcamp.com/album/extra-life