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Crumb - Jinx

Jinx is the first, and only, full length album by the band Crumb. It caught my eye, or rather ear, late last year while I was searching for music on YouTube. What makes this album appeal to me so much is its unique blend of trip-hop and neo-psychedelia. Trip-hop is a genre of music, popularized by the band Portishead, that is the gloomy goth child of hip-hop and electronica. It is basically what you get when you take a hip-hop beat, add spooky singing, and add filters and sound effects to make it sound uncanny and retro. Neo-psychedalia, as the name suggests, is a modernized version of psychedelic rock. Electronic and dance elements are often added added, along with falsetto vocals and a more dreamy sound. Some examples of neo-psychedellic bands are The Flaming Lips, MGMT, and Tame Impala. The result of combining these two genres is this laid back, spooky, spiritual sound. It's like you just died and are a ghost in a graveyard, but you are kinda okay with it, and are just chilling out. That's the vibe I get from this album.

The singing on this album, provided by singer/guitarist Lila Ramani, is very unique. Her vocals sound very laid back, uninterested, and effortless, yet at the same time, silky and extremely beautiful. She also frequently reads out lyrics in a non-stop list format, giving very few moments for pauses in between lines, as seen on songs like "Cracking" and "Ghostride". I think this singing style works really well with the music, and contributes to the dream-like atmosphere the band creates. 

This album also has some decent drumming. The infectious beats on songs such as "Fall Down" and "Part III" combined with the band's dreamy melodies, result in songs that are very fun to listen to.

I didn't talk about individual songs on this album too much because, much like the piece of amber featured on the cover, this album is pretty consistent the whole way through with some interesting bits trapped inside. Whenever I listen to it, the whole thing just starts blurring together after the first few songs. For a lot of bands, this would be a big problem, but for Crumb, it works out, and I appreciate an album that flows really well together. Their goal was obviously to make a really chill, relaxing album, and they achieved just that. Of course, the downside of this consistency is that it gets a little boring at parts, especially towards the second half of the album.

Overall, I think this is a good album, and it's worth giving a few listens.

Rating: 6.5/10

10/6/23 Re-Review Score: 8/10 - I believe I was overly harsh in my original review

Favorite Tracks: "Cracking", "Ghostride", "Fall Down", "Part III", "And It Never Ends", "Jinx"

Listen to Crumb - Jinx on Bandcamp!

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