Krooked Kings and Daywave's "Carbon Monoxide" Is a Sobering Meditation on Climate Change
If you want your songs to feel like an outdoor waterfall slipping through mossy rocks into a majestic pool tucked in the crevices of a picturesque mountain, then Crooked Kings' latest effort "Carbon Monoxide" is just the gem to bathe yourself in.
It's unsurprising that this Utah-based band has such a unique flora-sounding vibe, as they are clearly well attuned to the state of the natural world, specifically its well-advertised decay. As the band states, their latest effort is about how the erosion of the Earth, equally erodes our emotional state, "'Carbon Monoxide' is us exploring the impacts the climate crisis is having on youth’s culture and our mental health.”
Much of the stickiness of the song's appeal lies in its push and pull of earthy and airy parallel sounds. The melange of styles and their reductive cohesion is best explained in the contrasting background of the band and its celebrated producer and collaborator Day Wave. The roots of Krooked Kings, a true backyard and basement band of friends, are of course of that garage sound, whereby Day Wave both developed and revitalized a beachy, hazy sound that while of a different ethereal element, pairs excellently well with earth signs, and the result is evident in "Carbon Monoxide." The song wakes with a wonderfully taunt ukulele part before a muddy, dragging rhythm pulls the piece along, building and lifting with a dreamy, near-exasperated chorus, befitting the theme.
The tensions interwoven between the sound and message of "Carbon Monoxide" make it clear that Krooked Kings has found a real groove in their collaboration with Day Wave, an injection of oxygen that makes their genuine sound so much more expansive, and we are here for it.
Listen to "Carbon Monoxide" below:
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