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Crawlers, Liverpool’s indie rock triumph, is a household name for anyone with a pandemic TikTok addiction, as their song “Come Over (Again)” dominated For You pages across the world. Blossoming from this online success, Crawlers has just released their debut album, The Mess We Seem To Make, which is a prismatic portrayal of the band’s uniquely curated sound. There are, of course, familiar tracks like “Come Over (Again),” embraced by listeners for the intrinsically raw experience it conjures, spilling longing, rage, and desire over the brim of its indie rock sound. But, The Mess We Seem To Make proves that this is no one-hit-wonder situation, with a plethora of new tracks showing that the authentic emotion that pours from Crawlers is a consistent symptom of their artistry.  

The album opens with one such track, “Meaningless Sex,” which brews tension with a percussive synth punctuated by licks of distorted guitar. It’s an alluring overture to the body of work to come, taking ample space and time to open up into a full arrangement. This is a theme throughout The Mess We Seem To Make—the use of anticipation and expectation to lure listeners further into the album. “Kiss Me” plays on this, laying the song’s foundation with a dance between bass and drums as lead singer Holly Minto explores a melody overtop. Crawlers teases listeners with the prospect of euphoria as the instruments build to a peak but pulls back to just bass and drums at the last second.

Another song that experiments with dynamics is “Better If I Just Pretend,” an altogether standout off the album. It’s a rock symphony of moving parts that melt into perfect synchronicity, each piece falling into place with the next. The distorted guitar riffs fill in the gaps where the surging bass hesitates, and a flow of background vocals shimmers across the entire track. Minto gets to lean into her performance on “Better If I Just Pretend,” letting loose a rock ’n’ roll rasp that roughens the band’s alt-pop sound with grit. 

“Golden Bridge” gives listeners a more intimate meeting with Minto’s voice, where the rippling waves of piano give her space to explore. There’s hints of Miley Cyrus and '90s icons like Garbage in her sound, but it’s ultimately her own. Crawlers pointedly taps into ambience on “Golden Bridge,” carving out a cinematic soundscape to bolster Minto’s performance. Traced in crisp lines of reverb, the field of vision seems to reach for miles on this track, nodding to the band’s occasional orchestral instincts. 

There’s an expansive genre spectrum explored through The Mess We Seem To Make, from elements of pop to near-metal influences. An earlier single, “Messiah,” invokes these hints of metal, directly contrasting lighter tracks like “Lucy,” a moment for queer yearning built around a bubbly synth. Others, like “Nighttime Affair” pull on chromatic heartstrings with violins and piano, using the arrangement to depict the gutting reality of being the third person in an affair. Then, “Would You Come to my Funeral” lightens the sound but deepens the intention with lyrics like, “I’d ignore you if I had the chance / Like a stranger looking back / But if I knew I was dying / You’d be the first person I’d call.” 

Crawlers expands on their songwriting prowess with “Disc 2” of The Mess We Seem To Make, featuring a handful of alternate versions to songs on “Disc 1.” Here we get to experience “Meaningless Sex” as an intimate piano ballad, and “Kiss Me” on acoustic guitar. The former takes on a new meaning in this stripped context, suddenly morphing from a desire for satisfaction to a grasp at intimacy. 

Riding off the waves of their online success, Crawlers has captured the transcendent spectrum of their sound in The Mess We Seem To Make. Listeners will be hooked by the raw outpouring of emotion they love about the band, then get to enter the universe of Crawlers: stirring, multi-dimensional, and unpredictable. 

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