In recent years, garage rock has enjoyed a renaissance. Criminal Hygiene is just the latest group to shred in a totally old-school, totally awesome way. Now they’ve put out a new single and—no surprises—it rocks.
While Ty Segall bathes his melodies in distortion and groups like WAND go for lo-fi psychedelia, Criminal Hygiene opts for clarity on “Turpentine.” The track’s first section is a slow groove, completely with strummed acoustic guitar and thumping bass—more or less a Mikal Cronin song, except with a punkier vocal snarl. “Turpentine” then explodes into the garage-style freakout fans of the genre have come to know and love; some of this riffs here sound like Jimmy Page ditched the studio and grabbed a surfboard.
Next month, Criminal Hygiene will embark on a brief West Coast tour with garage comrades Twin Peaks and Meatbodies. Check out “Turpentine” and tour dates below:
Tour Dates:
11/11 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room
11/12 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
11/13 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
11/15 – San Francisco, OR – Bottom of the Hill
11/17 – Portland, OR – Slabtown
11/18 – Vancouver, BC – Electric Owl
11/19 – Seattle, WA – Vera Project
11/20 – Spokane, WA – The Bartlett
11/21 – Boise, ID – The Crux
11/25 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court