{"id":8545,"date":"2025-03-21T09:10:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T13:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/?p=8545"},"modified":"2025-05-01T08:24:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T12:24:08","slug":"crush-of-souls-lezire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/crush-of-souls-lezire\/","title":{"rendered":"Crush of Souls <br>L\u00e9zire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/crushofsouls1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-8546\" src=\"http:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/crushofsouls1.jpg\" alt=\"Crush of Souls, Lezire\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/crushofsouls1.jpg 250w, https:\/\/agitreader.com\/wp2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/crushofsouls1-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>As one half of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.agitreader.com\/features\/crocodiles-04.27.html\">Crocodiles<\/a>, the San Diegan duo who first garnered a buzz with the release of its 2009 debut, <i>Summer of Hate<\/i> during a wave of lo-fi shoegaze revivalists, Charles Rowell has mostly dabbled in varied forms of rock, whether that be the hazy sonics of that debut or the fast and loose punk-pop of latter records like 2023\u2019s <i>Upside Down in Heaven<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>But with his latest project, Crush of Souls, he has largely eschewed the six-strings for synths. Their latest, <i>L\u00e9zire<\/i> (Avant! Records), is the most fully realized record under the moniker. Digging deep into a gothic aesthetic that recalls not only such luminaries as Sisters of Mercy but contemporaries like Cold Cave, the record is a decidedly darkened affair, as song titles like \u201cWorld Tears\u201d and \u201cSouls Apart\u201d might indicate. But the record\u2019s icy tones belie an emotional undercurrent, that while predictably melancholy, is no less moving. Meanwhile, the lilting melody of \u201cCult of Two\u201d would almost be upbeat were it not for Rowell\u2019s lyrics about lost love, and \u201cNo Soul\u201d is built on a danceable, throbbing pulse and a repeated sax squawk that cuts through the gloom. And \u201cPSSS\u201d is completely infectious (think Depeche Mode fronted by Peter Murphy). Just the same, Crush of Souls does wallowing well, particularly on \u201cYou Rose Up,\u201d which features the bellow of Harry Howard (of These Immortal Souls and Roland\u2019s brother). <i>L\u00e9zire<\/i> is a record that transcends the possible trappings of its MO to be something striking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As one half of Crocodiles, the San Diegan duo who first garnered a buzz with the release of its 2009 debut, Summer of Hate during a wave of lo-fi<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[34,2623],"class_list":["post-8545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-review","tag-crush-of-souls"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - 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