Crooks On Tape

Crooks On Tape is an indie rock band founded by John Schmersal (Braniac, Enon), Rick Lee (Skeleton Key), and drummer Joey Galvan. Schmersal and Lee played together in Enon and began recording improvisational music with Galvan in 2010. Dayton, Ohio indie label Misra Records released the band's debut album "Fingerprint" in 2013. Edited into a tight 35 minutes from "hundreds of hours of material," the band's official bio likens the band's electro-punk sound to "tiny snapshots of an altered crime scene."[1]

Crooks On Tape
OriginLos Angeles
GenresIndie rock
Years active1999–2011
LabelsMisra
Associated actsEnon, Vertical Scratchers
Websitewww.crooksontapemusic.com
Members

AllMusic gave "Fingerprint 3 1/2 stars, citing the "unexplored mileage in the skronky yet catchy sound" of Enon's debut album as a key influence in Crooks On Tape's propensity to "hunt for the weirdest sounds possible and then put them in the hookiest songs they can write."[2] Tiny Mix Tapes gave the album 3 out of 5 stars, calling "Fingerprint" a "squirming mass of improvisation...chopped up and molded into a series of two- to four-minute pop songs."[3] Pitchfork's Matt LeMay cited album opener "Duper" as a favorite in his year-end feature My Year In Music, nodding to the "loose and off-the-cuff thing going on here that I keep coming back to."[4]

Following the release of "Fingerprint," Crooks On Tape toured the U.S. and Europe in early 2014, when Schmersal turned his attention to a new project, Vertical Scratchers.[5]

In 2014, Misra issued a cassette release of "Fingerprint" with a full 11 instrumental bonus tracks on the B-side. For Record Store Day 2015, Schmersal collected ten of these instrumentals for a vinyl compilation, In The Realm Of The Ancient Minor. The track list for this compilation mirrored the sequence of the "Fingerprint" cassette, omitting the song "Cats Don't Care."[6][7]

In October 2015, Crooks On Tape resurfaced for a series of live gigs with Austin pop surrealists The Octopus Project.[8]

Discography

Albums
  • 2013 Fingerprint CD and LP (Misra Records)
  • 2014 Fingerprint cassette (Misra Records) (reissue with 11 bonus tracks)
  • 2015 In The Realm Of The Ancient Minor LP (Pure Orgone) (limited release for Record Store Day)

Digital-only releases
  • 2013 "The Trees" (remix of 1978 Rush classic) (SoundCloud)
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References
  1. "Crooks On Tape (biography)". Misra Records. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  2. Phares, Heather. ""Fingerprint: Album Review"". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  3. Hemmerling, Joe. ""Fingerprint: Album Review"". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  4. LeMay, Matt. ""My Year In Music"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  5. ""Crooks On Tape On Pitchfork" (news item)". Misra Records. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  6. ""Crooks On Tape: Fingerprint" (cassette reissue)". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  7. "Discography". Crooks On Tape (band site). Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  8. "News". Crooks On Tape (band site). Retrieved 26 July 2016.
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