Bridgend-based, salt-of-the-earth rockers THOSE DAMN CROWS are not a group to rest on their laurels, gearing up for the release of their new album by unveiling a brand new set of headline dates this autumn, as well as an extensive string of UK instores this April
Heartfelt latest single “Dreaming” is an epiphanic voyage of discovery, taken from the forthcoming album God Shaped Hole, due out April 11th via Earache Records.
Asked about the track, frontman Shane Greenhall explains, “Dreaming… is a song about the moment you realise you’re no longer mentally and emotionally locked up. When you stop the guilt, suffering, and self sabotage, your dreams, perspective, and reality change simultaneously.”
Fresh off a triumphant intimate tour throughout March showcasing new material from God Shaped Hole, Those Damn Crows have announced their biggest tour to date for October
Fri 17th Oct – Leicester O2 Academy
Sat 18th Oct – Leeds Stylus
Mon 20th Oct – Newcastle Boiler Shop
Tue 21st Oct – Glasgow SWG3
Wed 22nd Oct – Manchester Albert Hall
Fri 24th Oct – Bristol Crane: Prospect Building
Sun 26th Oct – Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions
Tue 28th Oct – Southampton Engine Rooms
Thu 30th Oct – Birmingham O2 Institute
Fri 31st Oct – London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Always grateful and appreciative of their fans, the hard-working five-piece have confirmed an extensive set of UK-instore appearances to coincide with the album’s release. With a massive 17 locations and both day and evening timings, the Instore Mega Tour is go! As well as meeting the band and getting your album signed, fans will get to hear some acoustic renditions of tracks from God Shaped Hole! For full details and to secure your place at these very special events across England, Wales and Scotland, visit https://thosedamncrows.com/instores/ – first come, first serve, and places are limited!
What separates THOSE DAMN CROWS from so many other bands is the beating emotional heart at the centre of their music. God Shaped Hole reaffirms the band’s place at rock’s top table. It marries music fuelled by power, passion, and melody to an intelligence and emotional honesty that’s increasingly rare these days. Like all the best music, God Shaped Hole comes from the heart and the head
“I don’t know how to write any way other than being completely honest,” says Shane. “Maybe I’m a little too honest and reveal a bit too much of myself. But I think that’s what people connect with”
In the decade-plus since they formed in the fiercely working class town of Bridgend, South Wales, Those Damn Crows have gone from wide-eyed hopefuls playing to 20 people at the Camden Barfly to the leading lights of their generation, a genuine modern rock powerhouse spearheading the scene’s current resurgence, notching up a Top 3 album with 2023’s Inhale/Exhale and sharing massive stages with everyone from Queens Of The Stone Age and ZZ Top to the Alice Cooper/Johnny Depp supergroup The Hollywood Vampires and German punk superstars Böhse Onkelz
Even by their standards, God Shaped Hole – recorded with longtime producer Dan Weller – covers a lot of musical bases while still retaining Those Damn Crows’ unique identity
Anthemic opening track “Dancing With The Enemy” and the electrifying “Let‘s Go Psycho!” (released as a single before their triumphant main stage performance at 2024’s Download Festival) are guaranteed crowd-starters, while the supremely melodic “Dreaming” would sound perfect spilling from an open-top convertible as it powers down the Pacific Coast Highway and the pummelling “Spit And Choke” crackles with punky energy. Elsewhere, “Fake” possesses an unexpected yet muscular waltz-like groove as it turns an eye on those who use social media to sell a distorted perception of their own lives, “No Surrender” is as defiant as its title suggests, “Glass Heart” is a gleaming pop rock gem, and the soaring “The Night Train” possesses a beautifully restrained, folky edge.
The album’s detailed artwork, by Alex Tillbrook, has a lot of thought behind it. Shane comments, “It’s a collection of what’s happened in the timeline of (my) life. It’s a combination of realities and dimensions. Each item on the album cover visually represents a song on the album and the emotion tied to it. The album landscape is another dimension where the dream world exists, images/songs/emotions are scattered around the vast desert in disarray. Is the sink hole there to destroy, to take away, or is it the path to a new dimension, new reality, new life? I feel that life, the dream state, psychedelics, technology are all co-existing and blurring the lines while asking the question ‘what is real?'”
At a time when rock music is constantly (and incorrectly) written off, Those Damn Crows prove it’s more alive than it has ever been. God Shaped Hole is the sound of a band at the very peak of their powers – but one who are determined to keep building on their achievements.
“We’ve never been the sort of band who sit back and think at what we’ve done,” concludes Shane. “It’s always about what’s the next goal, the next tour. We can’t rest, we need to keep moving forwards. That’s what keeps us alive.”
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