The Crimea - Tragedy Rocks

Tragedy Rocks. It does. Slowly, finessing each note and milking each masterful chord, The Crimea rocks inexorably forward. Davey MacManus whispers with a wounded crack and growls in a high baritone tinged with feeling. The Crimea rocks passionately onward. Andrew Stafford doesn’t so much play the keyboard as massage it, squeezing the tension through each note in that light and ephemeral key. The Crimea absolutely rocks. Andy Norton and Joseph Udwin collide off each other on guitar and bass, playing complex and dissonant chords with acrobatic and dexterous ease. The Crimea completely rocks. And finally, beneath an already impressive tour-de-force of sound, Owen Hopkin just lays down an intricate web of beats, subdued yet commanding. The Crimea, once again, totally rocks. Some people luck into the perfect combination of sound: The Crimea does it intentionally, effortlessly, mellifluously. Wisely using the full instrumental range, each song gives both keyboard and guitar the opportunity for a catchy hook, complimenting the other and all the while supporting MacManus. This double-narrative also provides a unique opportunity (fully capitalized on) to play with lighter and more synthesized rock, replete with echoed chords and swooping scales. Though there are only four instruments, and the occasional harmonica, the powerful arrangements often take on the power of a synthesized orchestra, and The Crimea becomes far more than the sum of its parts. They’re also quite successful risk-takers: Fourteen songs, each an experiment, each a success. Dare I say it again, The Crimea rocks. They also cover quite a bit of ground, from heavy rock (“Here Comes the Suffering”) to pop rock (“Lottery Winners on Acid”) to alternative (“Opposite Ends”). The production values never falter, and while the thematic material is mostly depressing, the music's inspiring and energetic (even at its slowest). The ugliest things (double suicides, rape, alcoholic blurs) can’t help sounding beautiful, as if there’s still hope that something good will come from all the shit of the world. It’s this belief, the bold and passionate heart behind every note, word, and howl that makes tragedy more than tragedy, but which makes it truly, in every sense of the word, rock. [www.thecrimea.net]