Crop’s upcoming sophomore release S.S.R.I (August 22nd) is an album that refuses to play it safe. Where their self-titled debut laid the groundwork for a heavy, unflinching sound, their follow up pushes further into darker spaces, heavier themes, and sharper execution. Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Jason Groves, the album feels like a fully realized step forward. It’s one that matches raw intensity with precision.
The opener, “Flatline,” sets the tone without a single word by using instrumental weight to create a bleak foundation. From there, S.S.R.I surges into “Formaldehyde,” where Marc Phillips’ vocals anchor the band’s unrelenting heaviness to the stark reality of suicide and its aftermath.
There’s a wonderful gravel and grit to Marc’s vocals. They make me think of the late Frank Starr from The Four Horsemen and Jizzy Pearl of Love/Hate. The weight of the lyrics allow a reverberation through his vocals that echo with hurt and pain. It’s not just in “Formaldehyde”, but through all of S.S.R.I.
It’s not just Marc’s vocals that have grit. The band channels the grit of 90s grunge while steeping it in modern doom heaviness. Zach Hunter’s guitar work builds walls of distortion that never lose their shape, Braun Dabney’s bass gives the songs their punishing low-end, and Andrew Beauvier’s drums keep everything driving forward with relentless precision.
The kind of raw and brutal honesty that is delivered by Crop, musically and lyrically, is what makes the songs hit as hard as they do. Tracks like “Goddamn” and “10-56” expand the scope of the record’s themes by turning frustration and disillusion into something that feels cathartic rather than hopeless.
“Alone” stands as the emotional centerpiece and is a song that uses the language of breakup to say something bigger about clarity, suffocation, and survival. Meanwhile, the instrumental “Breath” gives one a moment of reprieve before the closing track “Break” delivers a final strike. Closing on a note that is more of a challenge than comfort. It makes its philosophy clear, confrontation over complacency.
What makes S.S.R.I stand out is its balance. It’s crushing but not aimless, emotional but never overwrought.morable. Crop sharpens grief and doom into something unforgettable and unflinching.
