Back in June, I had the pleasure of reviewing a single by San Francisco band, Pocket Full Of Crumbs. ‘In My Home’ was a comfortingly fuzzy, slacker-rock jam, a perfect example of DIY guitar driven music. It promised a forthcoming record filled to the brim with warm lo-fi excellence; In My Hands I Hold A Lucky Cricket more than fulfils this promise.
‘Elementary School’ begins the record; a one-point-moody-before-descending-into-heavy-chaos instrumental, perfectly setting the tone for what’s to come. As mentioned, ‘In My Home’ is just lovely. The vocal performance effortlessly carries the track, sitting above the crunchy guitars and splashy drums. ‘Blink’, a personal favourite from the record, is a real hip-moover, with grunge-like bass lines and wonky guitar riffs; overall, just great fun. Many of the songs on, In My Hands […] barely clock in over two minutes, and to great effect. There’s no better example of this than the racing ‘Nomad’, another grunge-tinged track that tumbles along, bearing resemblance to the more frenzied moments of grunge superstars, Nirvana.
Where the album succeeds most however, is in it’s slower, quieter moments. ‘Over Me’, affords a moment to breathe after the first four-song rush. It is relatively quiet, before leaping into a joyously noisy crescendo. ‘Right Illusion’ follows suit; a mostly chilled interlude, before launching into a display of ethereal guitar crushing. The album finale, ‘It’s Alright’, is an exercise in restraint, where most of the song is merely vocals and guitar. In it’s final minute however, it builds and builds before descending into a minimal slowcore landscape. It is an interesting end to an album that leans heavily on it’s excellent utilisation of crescendo, however it does make perfect sense. Like their slowcore contemporaries, Horse Jumper of Love; Teethe; and Duster, Pocket Full Of Crumbs showcase the genre’s often overlooked elegance. It is easy for a band to make a hell of a lot of noise at every possible moment, but there is a real respect for the craft on display when the silent moments are as powerful as the loud.
If you haven’t given a listen to one of San Francisco’s finest bands, then you are truly missing out. Pocket Full of Crumbs deserve to exist in the same headspace as the greats of slowcore; with In My Hands I Hold A Lucky Cricket, I believe they are firmly on their way to being there.
Written by Callum Foulds
