The debut album from New Zealand duo (and former shepards!) Crocodiles plays like a love letter to The Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen. Atop the bump-bump of a cheap drum machine are blurred chords and indistinct vocals that echo Spiritualized at their best that make you forget that its 2009. Summer of Hate is garage rock: short, sweet, blessedly fuzzed out, and incredibly enjoyable.

Continuing the rich tradition of New Zealand indie rock, enter the fresh-faced boys, Crocodiles. Setting aside their promising shepherding careers, the lads released the "Neon Jesus" 7" last year which catapulted them into a frenzy of cult hype (read: it was bought by precisely 4.567 people), so after the usual incessant touring we are finally treated to a full-length record. Fans will be pleased to know that the band's love of Jesus and Mary Chain and Echo and the Bunnymen has not been over diluted, as from the woozy opening drone of "Screaming Chrome" we're launched into the echoing, distorted rattle-clank of "I Want to Kill." The bump-bump of a cheap drum machine plods fiercely alongside their blurred chords and indistinct vocals and you could almost forget it's 2009.

Crocodiles might be joining the likes of Crystal Stilts et al. in trailing the current love of all things British, indie and over fifteen years old, but Crocodiles do it with such panache that it's hard not to fall for their crunchy sincerity. Summer of Hate is garage rock, but it's just that slight bit more "real" than so much of what's oozing from the lofts of Williamsburg right now; you get the feeling that rather than a last-gasp attempt for free blow and a tug behind the bodega, it's a love letter to music past. By the time the band trip-toe into more synthesized tracks such as the stand-out "Sleeping with the Lord," there are echoes of Spiritualized at their best (albeit rendered in blissfully lo-fidelity) and maybe it's just because this is my era, but it leaves me with a giant smile on my usually po-face. Short, sweet and incredibly enjoyable -- start hating.

-John Twells (May 23, 2009)