The English emo-violence titans known as "Crocus" released their first and only studio album, "Our Memories Dress Me in a Dead Lust" on February 17th, 2012. This would also be the final release brought to the world by Crocus before parting ways in August of 2012.

Crocus would embark on a two-week tour to promote this album, touring the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, and Austria.

Listening through, you will hear nine tracks of intense melodic chaos, highlighting Crocus in its pinnacle form.

Tracklist:

1. If Love is Madness, then I am Madly in Love With You

2. This is Pain

3. 222E

4. All of You

5. You Don't Belong

6. Our Memories Dress Me in a Dead Lust

7. Left to Bruise

8. Not Alone

9. Revival

I originally discovered this album while cycling through an oversized list of music I have been compiling over the past couple of years. The operatic feel of track 1 immediately captivated me and would suddenly sideswipe me with the chaotic arrangement Crocus has to offer. I could sense their major inspirations from bands 'pg.99' and 'The Assistant' before even opening their Facebook profile to see the same bands mentioned there.

As a guitarist and drummer, I fell in love with the musical structure of this album so much that I sought out the physical copies only after listening to it in full a couple of times. So now I own the 12" record and CD versions of this album (both versions came shipped as a set for basically the price of one, I LOVE WHEN BANDS DO THIS). You can also find a cassette tape that they released online in 2022 to get a physical release of their whole discography. 

Their guitarist, Zac, has a playing style that I can confidently say brings a unique array of melodies and harmonies to the table. And when that is complemented with drummer Tom and bassist Lewis, you get a math-schizo wall of melody that truly breaks the mold in the emo-violence genre. Especially in 2012.

As I was listening through with the lyric sheet in hand, I recognized some overall themes of belonging, grief, and closure. I get the impression their vocalist, Gregg, might've been struggling with understanding himself and an intense situation(s) he found himself in during the writing of this album. He invoked his emotions into a brilliant lyric format that I can only describe as vulgar and brutally grounded honesty, described with poetic imagery.

Although the song order was probably arranged in a way that better suited the album sonically. One could rearrange the tracklist to chronicle a story of experiencing unresolved, maybe sudden separation, moving to a stage of grief filled with confusion and angst, to finally push into clarity, where the main figure can find closure in the situation and better understand themself.

My Top 3 Picks:

- You Don't Belong
- 222E
- This is Pain

This took me a couple of listens to fully understand, which a lot of people might not particularly enjoy. In my case, this allowed me to not only be impressed by Crocus' musicianship on the first listen, but also on several listens that would follow that. It's very difficult to construct an album that can force you to feel like you're listening to it for the first time, multiple times, and as I keep putting this music on in loop with my favorite bands of all time, I still hear something new that I didn't notice previously. This album truly set a bar to overcome for any emo-violence, math adjacent bands who want to reinterpret the sound of the 90's into the present day. I recommend you give this a listen, or recommend this album to anyone you know who's into this music. With that said, thanks for reading, D.I.Y or die, and may Crocus rest in peace...