Cruush

“New Bangers” NME 

“On Repeat” The Line of Best Fit 

“sure to have fans foaming at the mouth for a full-length project” Consequence

“a four-piece who seem to click into place with remarkable ease” CLASH

“instantly intoxicating” GIGWISE

Manchester shoegaze risers cruush announce their debut EP Wishful Thinker for April 14th via Heist or Hit and release new single ‘Stick In The Mud’ today. 

“I guess you can say our music has the sweet elements of having a crush on someone but the screeching of an industrial car crusher” goes the droll mantra from cruush vocalist & front-person Amber Warren.

Teaming up with tastemaker label, and fellow Mancunians, Heist or Hit - responsible for launching the careers of Her’s, two blinks, i love you, Eades and more - offers cruush the chance to spread their message far and wide.

New single ‘Stick In The Mud’ grinds forwards with pendulum-esque persistence. Acidic distortion-washes and a subterranean bass and kick drum combo paint an impressionistic 3D sonic landscape which houses Amber’s honeyed vocals.

She explains the thematic aspect of the song as: “The soundtrack to the destructive grind of the hospitality machine. The music is akin to tumbling down a flight of stairs and landing in a heap at the bottom, shaking yourself off before going straight down the next flight; reflecting exactly what I was putting myself and people I care about through at the time.”

Guitarist Arthur Boyd adds:

“Exploring feelings of longing. Dealing with complacency. Getting stuck in a rut. Doom scrolling. Comparing yourself to others, then feeling pretty useless.” 

cruush do have a melodic front. One that sounds like a manufacturing error of prettiness. Corrosive, half-melted, spewing a destabilizing grunginess. So intense it creates a kind of paralysis. But the core IP is formed when Amber’s darkwave nursery rhymes of dead-eyed dreamstate meet the white-knuckle tension of Arthur’s elliptical guitar. Tones muscular enough to administer compound fractures rage a cold war on the ears. Textures move in and out of phase, pluming for miles, drone-laced and magnificent.

The stemming guitar watercolour is met by mournful utterances on toxicity, physiological decline, narcissistic behaviours and pessimistic tendencies. While more traditional approaches to shoegaze suffocate the vocal and message, Amber’s melodic splendour is antidote-like, stealing attention from the tidal waves of noise with queasy timbres of disillusion, doubt and confusion.  

“Meeting each other in Manchester and sharing our time here has shaped our sound more than anything else” admits Arthur. So, no matter if cruush lean into 80s indie, alternative 90s or the Seattle sound, they’re able to plug their rock into the aquatic textures of the city in which they reside. Think the delicacy of Wolf Alice whipped in the cyclonic guitars of My Bloody Valentine.  

Broadcasters and journalists alike have been enchanted, with Jack Saunders (BBC Radio 1), Steve Lamacq, Tom Robinson & Chris Hawkins (BBC Radio 6), John Kennedy (Radio X), Simone Butler (Soho Radio), Consequence of Sound, Bandcamp Daily, NME, CLASH and GIGWISE all lining up to call themselves fans. 

On the live side, cruush have bagged supports with BDRMM, NewDad, The Lounge Society, Far Caspian, Pale Blue Eyes, Priestgate and Ian Sweet, while selling out hometown headline dates at Gullivers & YES.  

Wishful Thinker - the debut EP from cruush - is out April 14th via Heist or Hit