B-Side Guys

While youth-oriented angst dominates alternative music, Crash & The Crapenters carve out territory rarely explored – the existential dread of middle age. Their new EP “Species Du Faeces” channels decades of musical influence into eleven minutes of unflinching examination of adult disillusionment, creating something both familiar and startlingly fresh.

Opening track “All Geared Up” maps the weekend cocaine-and-alcohol bender cycle with uncomfortable precision. The four-verse structure cleverly traces the trajectory from Friday night excitement to Monday morning despair, while musically shifting from bouncy enthusiasm to crushing heaviness. Chris Carpenter’s vocals convey both the initial euphoria and subsequent devastation with equal conviction, creating a cautionary tale that never feels preachy despite its clear message about Australia’s normalized addiction culture.

“Depression (Smells Like Middle Aged Spirit)” provides the EP’s most audacious moment, reimagining Nirvana’s generation-defining anthem for those now facing midlife crises. The genius lies in how the band maintains enough musical distance to avoid parody while keeping enough familiarity to trigger emotional recognition. The track’s exploration of cyclical relationship patterns and persistent depression lands with particular weight because of this clever framing. When Carpenter declares “I am depressed!” there’s a refreshing directness rarely found in music’s often metaphorical approach to mental health.

“The Devil’s In The Detail” shifts toward industrial territory, with mechanical rhythms underscoring lyrics about ideological echo chambers and misdirected anger. The production creates claustrophobic atmosphere that mirrors the song’s examination of how people retreat into simplistic worldviews when facing complex problems. The repeated refrain “your aim is a miss/all your arrows don’t hit” creates powerful central metaphor about ineffectual rage that resonates beyond the specific context of the song.

Closing track “Off The Bricks” offers the EP’s most surprising turn – cautious optimism wrapped in energetic punk packaging. The song’s advocacy for therapy, meditation, and self-awareness could easily become eye-rolling, but the band’s self-deprecating approach and musical urgency make it persuasive. The repeated “you’re off the bricks” hook works both as addiction reference and call to rebuild one’s foundation, creating clever double meaning that rewards closer listening.

Throughout these four tracks, Crash & The Crapenters demonstrate remarkable thematic cohesion while exploring different sonic territories. The production balances rawness with clarity, allowing the intricate guitarwork and dynamic shifts room to breathe without sacrificing immediacy. Carpenter’s vocals remain the consistent element, his weathered delivery lending authenticity to these explorations of middle-aged discontent.

“Species Du Faeces” succeeds by examining familiar themes through unique perspective. Where younger bands might approach addiction and mental health from perspective of first discovery, Crash & The Crapenters examine them through lens of long-term consequences and delayed reckonings. The result feels honest in ways that transcend typical rock posturing.

The EP’s title – nodding to Midnight Oil’s “Species Deceases” – perfectly encapsulates the band’s approach. They acknowledge their influences while transforming them into something distinctly their own, just as they acknowledge life’s difficulties while suggesting possibilities for transformation. For eleven minutes, they create music that’s simultaneously pessimistic about circumstances and optimistic about human capacity for growth.

As Chris Carpenter notes, this isn’t misery for misery’s sake, but an invitation to “look deep within yourself” and make “a positive contribution to the world around you.” By channeling middle-aged rage into cathartic music, Crash & The Crapenters have already done exactly that.