Released back in August by Brooklyn-based indie rock label Frenchkiss Records, Crimes of Passion is not only the follow up to the San Diego, CA-based band Crocodiles critically praised Endless Flowers, it may well be one of my favorite rock albums of the year. Produced by the Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner, the album reflects a change in sonic direction for the band – as the band’s sound now leans more towards a densely layered psychedelica familiar to fans of the Stone Roses, the Jesus and Mary Chain, and others, as well as the noir-ish, seductive sound of Wagner’s own Raveonettes. And through the use of backup singers, organs, horns, industrial background noise, the material manages to possess some incredibly funky bass lines, some gorgeously chiming guitars, a catchy and impeccable sense of melody. 

Much like the previous single “Cockroach,” “Teardrop Guitar,” the album’s second single has a towering, swaggering menace just under the murky, scuzzy surface. Few contemporary bands manage to carefully tread the tightrope between dark and decadent with gorgeous and catchy melody. 

The video fits the band’s scuzzy aesthetic, as it looks as though it were recorded from an old Public Access channel on some warped, old VHS tape.