Kids On A Crime Spree

Falling in line with bands in the past who had the bright idea of combining the precise songcraft of the Brill Building with the unpredictable noise of the Velvet Underground, while also adding in some sneaky punk energy, Kids on a Crime Spree's infrequent recordings show they are expert at executing classic noise pop. After 2011's We Love You So Bad introduced their take on the sound, 2022's Fall in Love Not in Line took a long time to arrive, but it captured the same balance of noise and melody while adding a few twists. Inspired by a fateful night of listening to girl group deep cuts at a friend's house in Stockholm, Sweden, Oakland-based Mario Hernandez (formerly of Ciao Bella and From Bubblegum to Sky) spent a long time being haunted by the sounds he had heard, then began working on songs that served as his own noisy update on the era. Once he began recording them, he called in two old friends he had played with in From Bubblegum to Sky to help -- #poundsign# drummer Becky Barron and guitarist Bill Evans -- and Kids on a Crime Spree was born. Drawing on the deceptive simplicity of girl group tunes and adding a hefty helping of reverb and distorted guitar, it's little wonder the group found themselves on Slumberland Records' roster -- home of similarly minded groups like Black Tambourine and Henry's Dress -- soon after the lineup solidified. Kids on a Crime Spree's debut album, the eight-song We Love You So Bad, was released on Slumberland Records in May 2011. The band played a host of high-profile gigs in support of the record, including both the New York City and San Francisco editions of Popfest. The group released the occasional single over the next decade -- "Creep the Creeps" in 2013, a 2016 split single with Burnt Palms, and a shared EP with Terry Malts in 2017 -- before returning with their second album, Fall in Love Not in Line, in 2022. Released again by Slumberland, the record was tracked at Hernandez's home studio and featured occasionally fierce political lyrics and a slightly more varied musical approach (slower tempos, 12-string guitar) than the band's debut.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo