In the wild, crocodiles are lethal but lazy. In person, Crocodiles combine reptilian cool with an admirable work ethic: the San Diego duo of Brandon Welchez and Charles Rowell recently released Crimes of Passion, their fourth album of broiling psych-rock in five years. Produced by Sune Rose Wagner of the Raveonettes – someone who knows a thing or two about sieving guitar scree into palatable arrangements – it's a useful snapshot of a band in a hurry to get somewhere.
Live, Crocodiles expand to a five-piece to convincingly recreate the echo-drenched squall of sound showcased on their records. Yet the focus remains on Welchez and Rowell; the former hanging off the microphone while sleazily resplendent in leopard-print shirt, the latter periodically applying a can of Red Stripe to the strings of his guitar. It's an appealing portrait of biker-noir bromance, entirely dissimilar to the antagonism of the Jesus and Mary Chain, a common point of musical reference with Wagner.
"This is the first song we ever wrote," says Welchez, as they kick into Neon Jesus, an insinuatingly catchy song that evokes Super Furry Animals far more than Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The rest of their brief set is characterised by well-wrangled guitar distortion and keyboard throbs, although the recent single Cockroach Cockroach has an especially appropriate footstamp to it.
The crashy, splashy feel is of a piece with the chaos of Edinburgh in August, especially in a cramped venue where the band have to elbow through the crowd to gain or leave the stage. But Crocodiles may still need a killer tune to slither into the mainstream. Not that the hopped-up crowd seem bothered. "I think I'm in love," sings Welchez on Marquis de Sade, the swooning, asymmetrical love song that opens their whipcrack encore. Judging by the keen response, he's not the only one.
At the Ruby Lounge, Manchester, 28 August (0161-834 1392) Seabright Arms, London, 29 August (020-7729 0937), and Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton, on 2 September (01273 749465).Click for tour details.
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