[This review was originally published in Badaboom Gramaphone #3 and appears here with permission.]
Anacortes, Washington duo Crabs arrived at just the right time, offering enough charmingly amateurish tunefulness to fill the void left by the dissolution of Beat Happening. On Jackpot, drummer Lisa and guitarist Jonn (younger brother of Beat Hap’s Brett Lunsford) run through a host of garagey numbers, with Jonn (mostly) singing in a flat monotone. The lyrics owe a great debt to co-producer (with Pat Maley) Calvin Johnson’s short sing-songy couplets, but an underlying sadness belies their deadpan delivery.
Brainswashed, produced to good effect by Maley, followed a year later, with songs that are alternately more electric and quieter than the debut. The duo utilizes harmonies on chugging confections like the title track and “Anything & Everything,” a nerdily romantic song worthy of John and Yoko. “Speechless” is giddily Beat Crampsy; “Jean Paul Sartre” cleverly slags jingoism (“Americans are not so smart / They don’t know about Jean-Paul Sartre / Everything they ever know / Is football games and TV shows”); and “Prom Night” is a wobbly instrumental in a Half Japanese vein.
Lisa (Jackson) has more of a vocal presence on What Were Flames Now Smolder, singing achingly sweet leads on five of the twelve songs. Jonn’s guitar, cleaner and less amplified, almost jangly in spots, is joined by keyboards, cello and bass on various tracks. Produced by Johnson, the result is a more cohesive, richer album, with such highlights as the neo-funk shards of “Love & Hate,” the chiming pop of “Mission Impossible” (“Little Black Egg” meets Lesley Gore) and the orchestrated balladry of “Private Eye.” Heavenly pop for the romantically mystified.
Having added Sarah Dougher on keyboards and vocals, Crabs is a trio on its final release, Sand and Sea.