Grab your board and get ready to shred with Buffalo four-piece, Slow Cooker, and their debut full length, Do a Kickflip, a post-hardcore tour de force that will leave your ears happy and bleeding.
Since forming in 2015, old friends Ian McCrohan, Andy Krzystek, Joe McGrath and Adam Malchof have carved out a distinct and delightful calamity of sweaty garage rock injected with hardcore punk super serum. The results, as reflected in the hilariously off-putting cover art, are unapologetically unique, individualized and just plain awesome. You can call it “weird,” but the best and most interesting things in life usually are.
Do a Kickflip opens with a big bang with the track, “Fix It.” Right off the bat, Slow Cooker pummels you with a one-two knockout punch of righteously avant-garde garage jams complemented perfectly by unmistakable vocals. Singer/guitarist McCrohan delivers resilient lyrics with a frantic flamboyancy and mood swing inflections that can be heard at their very best on the rowdy, heart-racing track, “Bird Flu.” It’s like listening to Jello Biafra run down Main Street with his hair on fire.
The songwriting and musicianship behind the album’s chaos is top notch. McCrohan, Krzstek and McGrath’s quirky surf riffs are reinforced with Malchor’s crashing drums to create noisy, technical beats that are still able to find order in disorder. One thing Slow Cooker does masterfully is warping the tempos and tensions of their tracks, transitioning back and forth between breakneck, out of control outbursts to poignant, catchy grooves. These seamless transitions, especially on “Tub Apple,” create wonderfully textured and engaging soundscapes similar to slow motion car crashes that explode into real time upon impact.
Other stand out tracks include “Salt and Vinegar,” “Show Your Teeth,” and the closer, “Worms,” which serves as a perfect, and much appreciated, cool down.
With the release of Do a Kickflip, Slow Cooker has proudly staked their ground and delivered a long-awaited album you’ve got to hear. Turn your speakers way up for this one and drive your neighbors nuts with it below.