The Crush

The Crush is a rocking indie pop band from Seattle. I featured them previously in a round-up of songs added recently to Pop That Goes Crunch radio.

Their new EP, Future Blimps, quite fittingly dropped on the first day of Summer. It consists of five hook-filled tracks alternating between somewhat stomping garage rock and jangling Power Pop. There is nothing fancy here, just eighteen minutes of bass-guitar-drums rock and roll that flies by in an instant. Its your perfect warm weather accompaniment.

Future Blimps kicks off with a stomper, “Never Gonna Stop,” that immediately announces Kira Wilson as a vocalist with whom to reckon quite seriously. Her pipes are sassy, self-assured and powerful throughout the EP, and wind seamlessly through its many riffs and rhythms:


The next track, “Around” is sinewy, head-swaying jangle pop. “Better and Better” takes us back to the garage and serves up four-minutes plus of blues-rock riffing ripped from the 60s.

The jangle makes a comeback on “Its Love,” where the guitars vie for sonic supremacy with Wilson’s varying vocal stylings:


The EP concludes its all-too-brief stay with “Nothing To Lose,” a bit of classic 70s-styled Power Pop:


Future Blimps is not intended to set the world on fire with innovation, but that’s perfectly fine. Its just fun rock and roll, and the hooks come at you full blast. Its quite a steal, at only $3. The band even cites The Nerves as one of their influences, and you can’t beat that. - Pop That Goes Crunch

The Crush is a great power pop trio made up of Kira Wilson (Vocals and Bass), Daniel Cutting (Drums and Guitar), and Jacob Thiede (Guitar). They are taking Seattle by storm with thier undeniable ability to write catchy hooks perfect for any summer playlist. They are undoubtably one of our favorite new bands and we were honored to ask them some questions about their inspirations, their thoughts on the music industry, and much more...

First of all, for the people who are not familiar with your band, could you give a brief history or overview on how you all got started.
JT: Of course! Kira and myself have been writing (and recording) songs here and there since late 2012. In late 2013, after our move to Seattle, Daniel joined, started writing songs, and we became The Crush!

You all have a very traditional but unique sound. Can you tell us about some of your influences and who you all look up to as artists?
KW: Thanks Rachel! The Beatles and the Rolling Stones are a HUGE influence on us as a band, it’s hard not to give them a shout! What got me started with playing music was learning how to play simple bar chord punk songs by bands like The Clash and The Ramones. More bands that have influenced me and frequent the record player are The Pretenders (Chrissie is my Hero!!!), Blondie, The Go Go’s and The Nerves just to name a few….

JT: I’m a big Beatles and Stones fan (of course!), but really like everything--even a lot of new bands playing today that we go out and see. The Jam, The Smiths, Exploding Hearts, and Johnny Thunders are some of my faves. Also been really into Ride and the Stone Roses lately. As far as current bands go, The Knast, Bleached, and Howler are pretty rad!

One of the main things that I think sets you apart from other bands in the power pop genre is that you all are a female fronted band (which I personally think we need to see a lot more of in the genre). Does that ever effect people's reactions when they see you live or listen to your music?
KW: I totally agree that we need to hear more gals in power-pop! I think that people who’ve heard of us really dig that The Crush is a female fronted band. It’s hard to say if that has changed anything for us, but I think that it’s great to hear female driven power-pop today because there have been so many bands that were female driven bands that haven’t gotten the recognition that they deserve, like the Daisy Chain for example. Lady power-poppers we want to hear you! Lets play a gig sometime!!!

Your band is based out of Seattle, Washington. Though it may be a misconception, Seattle is most commonly associated with the "grunge" movement of the 90's. Do you consider this a burden or a blessing?
DC: I consider it a blessing. I really enjoy grunge music and I think it was one of the last exciting mainstream rock genres, so it's cool that Seattle is associated with that. I can see why someone would consider grunge a curse back in the 90's, because it overshadowed many Seattle bands that weren't grunge, but it doesn't really exist anymore. A Seattle band can be any genre and can get the attention they deserve as long as they are good.

JT: I agree. Anything that draws people to the city musically is good. The grunge scene in the 90s definitely makes music here a bit more rockin’! The live energy is great with so many bands in Seattle and people aren't afraid to get rowdy at shows. As far as the Seattle area’s music legacy goes, I’m more of a Sonics, Fastbacks, Posies, and Wailers (Tacoma, WA) fan though.

Being a young band and kind of just getting started, what do you all think about the state of the music industry or just the state of music in general?
JT: On one hand music is much more accessible to people today and there are so many good bands out there! This is refreshing because you can find good music almost anywhere and go to lots of shows. On the other hand, people seem to complain that it’s hard to make a living on music and most of the top 40 pop bands are shite...

KW: My take on it? I’m really too young to look back remember when it was any other way! I’m in The Crush to have fun and play tunes I like. Nothing about the state of music could ever change that.

The two singles you currently have up on your Bandcamp page, "The Hook" and "Summer Rain", are very catchy and sound like you guys have a lot of fun recording and writing. What is the band's process when it comes to writing/recording your songs?
KW: The writing process in this band has been really fun and rewarding experience for all of us. We all write just about equally now, Daniel plays guitar really well, and we all trade instruments at practice from time to time. It’s been easy for all of us to start songs and have the rest of the band add to them. This goes for music as well as lyrics.

Lastly, what is next for The Crush? New music, touring, music videos...?
KW: Playing the International Pop Overthrow in Los Angeles on July 22nd and in Portland on August 23rd!

JT: Also playing locally on July 12th at Blue Moon and releasing an EP titled “Future Blimps” this month on the 21st! Thats the first day of summer, so very pumped about that!

LIGHTNING ROUND:
Favorite album at the moment?
Throwing Muses-The Real Ramona has been getting a lot of plays lately. Just picked up a Three o'Clock EP too. Oh yeah, and PINS-Girls Like Us!

Best concert you ever attended?
Deerhunter at Bumbershoot last year!

What artist is your guilty pleasure?
Hmmm not really “guilty” about any of the stuff I listen to…maybe Phil Spector produced stuff?
He turned out to be such a bad dude, but the music was SO good right? Plus the musicians he worked with were mega talented as well...still a little bit of guilt admitting what a genius he was. Sad, sad, sad. Hmmm...that got a little dark…

First album you ever bought?
KW: My first vinyl album was Bellybutton by Jellyfish!

JT: First record on vinyl was Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet

DC: I think the first cd I ever purchased was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Baby 81. As for vinyl, it was either a Neil Young or Kinks record.

Favorite power pop band?
Hmmmm...soo many good ones! We’ve all been into Teenage Fanclub and Big Star at the moment. Also, this more current group called The Parties has a great album called “Can’t Come Down” we listen to all the time.


The Crush's Future Blimps EP will be out June 21, 2014! Pre-order here:
https://thecrushseattle.bandcamp.com/album/future-blimps - Power Pop Gumdrop

The Crush is a Seattle power pop trio that isn’t afraid to list a whole bunch of old school (read: classic) rock bands as influences. The standouts for me? The Stones, The Jam, Teenage Fanclub, The Kinks and fellow Seattles power poppers The Fastbacks! On its latest EP, Future Blimps, the band delivers all the necessary ingredients to make tasty power pop viz. beaty rhythms, meaty guitars, catchy tunes and singer Kira’s appealing larynx as the cherry on top!

The five-track EP kick offs with the rollicking “Never Gonna Stop” and the trio keeps energy levels high throughout. With tracks like the jangle-y “Around”, the garage-y “Better and Better”, the sunshine-y “It’s Love” and the bounce-y “Nothing to Lose”, the agenda is clear viz. cool vibes, poppy fun and an ephemeral musical infatuation with songs that aim directly at the heart!

Future Blimps is available at Bandcamp from 21st June! - Power of Pop

The Crush, “The Hook”: This is big, 70s-style melodic rock with a pounding, relentless beat and a bushel full of hooks, befitting its title perfectly: - Pop That Goes Crunch

The Crush is a Garage Rock Power Pop band from Seattle, Washington. Their new single The Hook/ Summer Rain is nothing sort of a classic. The Crush is a band that should be played on every great American road trip, or at every summer party. Their powerful vocalist Kira Wilson has a voice of which you can not resist but listening to. The Crush's tone has a very true vintage sound to it, and is truely a band Hippy Wolf would love to see live. Hopefully you will see them at a upcoming Hippy Wolf Show? Please go check out Hippy's newly found freinds The Crush. - Hippy Wolf Productions

The Crush – This unsigned Seattle band does it bouncy and “The Hook” is exactly what you think it is. Like a female fronted version of The Raspberries, they also have a very 60′s-like track called “Bliss”, that’s for FREE too. My guess is they won’t stay unsigned for too long. - Powerpopaholic