Croc Shop – Resist (Album – DAMn!)
Genre/Influences: EBM.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: Set up in the late 80s in Berlin (Germany) Crocodile Shop (later on renamed Croc Shop) released several productions during the 90s –mainly on Metropolis Records. Nearly twenty years after their last album (cf. “World” released in 2002) the band strikes back with new work. Core member Nick Hale got inspired by the election of Trump who in a way awakened the political engagement of Croc Shop.
Content: “Resist” features 9 songs, which are clearly driven by the good-old EBM vibes of the band. This is retro-EBM reminding me of the 90s. You’ll rapidly notice the engagement emerging at the surface by the multiple spoken samplings from Donald Trump. The way of using the samplings mixed with real vocals are here again reminding me of the 90s.
+ + + : “Resist” could have been written in the 90s. It’s old-school and yet it has something refreshing; a kind of sweet, danceable EBM with a message on top. I like the most danceable pieces like the opener “Empowered”, “Pride” and “Unwanted”. The last mentioned song is carried by a solid bass line.
– – – : I like this old-school approach of making EBM, but I’m missing a climax in the work.
Conclusion: Do we have to be grateful to Trump, who clearly inspired a forgotten EBM formation to strike back? This is a pleasant work, which will appeal for all retro-lovers and die-hard fans of Croc Shop.
Best songs: “Empowered”, “Pride”, “Unwanted”, “Corruption”.
Rate: (7).
Artist: www.crocshop.com / www.facebook.com/crocshop
About Croc Shop
Croc Shop, originally known as Crocodile Shop, formed in Berlin, Germany, in the late 1980s. The band released several productions during the 1990s, mainly through Metropolis Records, before going quiet after “World” in 2002. Core member Nick Hale revived the project nearly two decades later, citing the election of Donald Trump as a catalyst for its renewed political engagement.
“Resist”, released in 2021, marked that return. Croc Shop followed it the same year with the album “Perpetual Sequence”, previewed with the single and video “Midnight”.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
