It's hard to understand Crocodiles' artistic intent behind a song like "I Wanna Kill". A sufficiently catchy rock number that's found the San Diego-based duo some internet love, the song blatantly steals from, among other classic pop tunes, the Jesus and Mary Chain's 1989 semi-hit "Head On". And I don't mean that bandmembers Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez were just influenced or inspired by the JAMC track, but that they've actually photocopied its melody and plopped it into their own song. Now, I'm not suggesting bands don't knick ideas from other acts (that's commonplace) or that every new group is required to fashion its own utterly unique sound (that's impossible), but theft is theft, and if this were college, Crocodiles would be expelled for plagiarism.
So why is anyone interested in these dudes? Well, they were name-checked by No Age in a 2008 year-end list and, sadly, that's all it takes to build a buzz these days-- one mention from a well-known group and you're the next Wavves. That's not No Age's fault or Crocodiles', but it does put on display the absurdity of the internet music community's never-ending, indiscriminate space race to find the next hot new band. In any case, it doesn't make much sense to compare this group to the noise-pop acts they're being lumped in with because, well, they're not very noisy. Outside of the background squeal of "I Wanna Kill" and a distorted drumbeat on (the also JAMC-aping) "Refuse Angels", most of what Crocodiles do on their debut LP, Summer of Hate, is actually pretty clean sounding.
The record's split into a couple of different stylistic categories. In addition to the... let's call it "reverential" rock stuff mentioned above, there are several synth-pop tracks that range from slower pieces to more upbeat dance numbers. What most of these songs lack in inventiveness they tend to make up for in melody; if nothing else, these guys know their way around a catchy hook. Despite sounding brazenly Rapture-lite, herky-jerky dance-punk number "Soft Skull (In My Room)" is a fine-tuned hipster boogie. And synth stomper "Flash of Light" is enough of an earworm to wiggle into your head for a few hours.
Crocodiles present their smartest work on the album's ballads, slower synth-pop pieces loosely built around the form perfected by 80s crossover acts such as OMD and Tears for Fears. They do some Beatles harmonizing atop wobbly Santo & Johnny guitars on "Here Comes the Sky" and construct a long, pleasant synth-and-vocal build on "Sleeping With the Lord"-- and these are easily Summer of Hate's best tracks. In fact, if the whole record were done in this style, it'd be worth the buzz. Instead of focusing on one idea and shaping it into something unique, though, the album tries its hand at everything that is "now" (noise-pop, dance rock, etc.) and owns none of it.
