Crocodylus on the release of 'Limbo, Please Be Good To Me'

Matt Wellham

After years of photographing and filming the London music scene, Matt’s now based in Sydney, Australia. A lover of the post-punk and alternative movement, he can usually be found in the grassroots venues, camera in one hand and a beer in the other.

Crocodylus on the launch of their third album, the sounds that have shaped the record and the best Aussie artists you should be listening to.

Ahead of their album launch party at The Lord Gladstone in Sydney, I sat down with Crocodylus’ lead guitarist Steve Sacco and vocalist/guitarist Josh Williams to chat about the release of their third record, ‘Limbo, Please Be Good To Me’.

Matt: For those readers out there that don’t know Crocodylus, tell us how you started and how that’s evolved over the past eight years?

Steve: It started as a two-piece, just the two of us back in 2015, right after high school.

Josh: Yeah, it was just drum and bass. Not “drum and bass” the genre, but bass and drums. Like Royal Blood-ish.

Steve: We were switching instruments in between songs, so it got to the point where we thought, “We need to get a drummer in permanently to fill out the sound properly.” Then Mikel joined in 2016, and that’s where we mark our proper start.

Josh: So it’s actually ten years this year. Ten years. Two (now three) albums in, three EPs, and three seven-inches.

Matt: Back when you were formed, what kind of music were you listening to at the time? Was there anything that helped shape that early Crocodylus sound?

Josh: We’ve always listened to pretty different stuff, but music that touches on similar things. At the end of high school, I was obsessed with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard before they really took off. My dad showed me that ’12 Bar Bruise’ album.

Matt: That’s a pretty cool dad…

Josh: I was always obsessed with The Osees, but I don’t think that really came out in the music…

Steve: It was more Bleeding Knees Club, DZ Deathrays, and those sorts of artists that shaped us. I was more into older stuff too, a lot of Nirvana, and I know we shared a love for Ramones and Misfits. I think that stuck with us for a bit.

Matt: Today marks the release of ‘Limbo, Please Be Good To Me’, your third record. Tell us about the writing process for the record, and did it differ from the previous two?

Steve: It’s definitely different. We wanted to go into it being a bit sharper than the last one. We actually sat on our last album, ‘Muscle Memory’, for a long time before we released it. By the time that album was out, we’d already started moving on from that sound.

Then there was the frustration of so much music to consume during COVID, with everyone creating, which is where ‘Limbo’ really comes from. That whole idea.

Then we did three writing trips, and they were all different. After the first writing trip, we basically canned the whole thing except for ‘Limbo‘ and a few others. By the time we’d reached the third, the record was almost an entirely new thing.

Josh: I don’t even know what that first writing trip was about. We were working on these weird, almost dance tracks. A bit more toward that Yard Act post-punk minimalism. There was even a rap song that almost made it before our producer was like, “Never rap.” Getting Wade (our producer) in really helped us tie everything up. He helped us steer the ship.

Matt: When your single ‘Leech‘ was released, you described the track as “literally a song about a leech.” What were some of the leech or non-leech-related themes you tackled with this record?

Josh: There are a lot of recurring themes regarding the uncertainty of being creative. That’s what I was getting at with ‘Limbo’, not knowing where we sit in the music scene. We don’t really get radio coverage, and we’re not one of those cult bands that get to go to Europe without airplay. So, we’re just somewhere in the middle. But yeah, there are a lot of recurring themes of uncertainty, getting older, and being in a band for ten years.

Matt: It’s a very instrumentally rich-sounding album, with tracks like ‘Leech’ and ‘Hope’ featuring swelling strings. Where did the orchestral inclusion come from? Was that a conscious choice when you first started writing the record?

Steve: Strings have always been an interest for us, but it’s the first time we’ve properly done it. In ‘Muscle Memory’, we were kind of tiptoeing around them, but we kept asking ourselves, “Should we put keys on it? How are we going to play it live?” Then you have to remind yourself that it’s your album; you can do whatever you want. That’s one experience, and the live show can be a different experience because the atmosphere and environment are totally different.

Matt: The overall sound feels like a darker, slight step away from the previous two records; it’s almost more European. I’m sure you’ll get comparisons to bands like Squid or black midi. What were you listening to at the time of recording? Any influences that bled into the sound of ‘Limbo’?

Steve: Fontaines D.C. and Crack Cloud were definitely mainstays on car trips over the past couple of years, even before this album. For that darker European sound, our approach was intentional but also organic. We weren’t really pushing ourselves in a certain direction; I think we’re just making music that we generally like and would want to listen to.

Josh: We were writing power-chord songs for seven years, and we wanted to do something different on this one. We wanted to really test ourselves. For the next album, we need to learn how to not all play at once, because this was the first time we recorded with five of us. A lot of the time, it’s five different people playing five different things, so it can be a lot. But for musical influences, there’s Protomartyr, Squid, and post-punk vibes.

Matt: We’re here at The Gladstone Hotel celebrating the launch with a live show. What’s the best thing about playing some of these smaller, more intimate pub gigs?

Steve: In one word: intimacy. If you can feel the audience in a performance, it makes all the difference.

Josh: Yeah, intimacy. You’ve seen the pub, it’s pretty small. It’s going to be very funny seeing 100 people in there bouncing around.

Matt: Can we expect to see some more live dates popping up soon?

Steve: There will be a tour for the album. We’re eyeing up July for the East Coast, then a regional one somewhere later in the year. But our goal is to go overseas, especially to the UK again. We’ve wanted to do that for years now.

Matt: It was The Chats that you supported previously in the UK, right? I remember you playing at London’s O2 Kentish Town Forum.

Josh: Yeah, that one was crazy. Just walking through those halls and seeing who’s played there previously…

Steve: Yeah, that’s actually funny because it shows the two ends of the spectrum. A show like that is huge and it’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of, but then there are these smaller shows and you remember those just as well.

Matt: Are there any specific tracks from the record that you’re stoked to share in a live setting?

Steve: We’re just genuinely excited to play the whole thing. My favourite song from the album is ‘Achilles Hill’. I think lyrically that really resonates with us as a band and I personally really like the song, but honestly, we’re just looking forward to playing.

Josh: I think there’s something about ‘Limbo’; we’ve been playing it for so long and I think it’s one of the most well-rounded tracks from the album. There was a conscious choice for us to choose it as a single and name the album after it.

Matt: At CLUNK, we’re all about championing rural communities and ensuring that live music reaches them. As an Australian artist, is there anything you’d like to see change in the industry to help get bands to play further afield, whether that’s breaking out of their local scene or touring on the other side of the world?

Steve: Two things: I’d like more smaller, one-day festivals to happen around Australia with lower capacities. I feel like those festivals are always really good and less risky for the organisers. Then, I’d like more commercial radio stations playing small, local music.

Josh: Yeah, that’d be good. It’s all community radio stations at the moment, which are really, really good, but if you want to really get your name out there, you need the backing of commercial stations.

Matt: There seems to be a particularly exciting crop of fresh talent there at the moment, especially in the guitar band scene. Who are some Aussie bands or artists that you think our readers should check out? Is there anyone you think people are sleeping on?

Josh: Yeah, there are heaps. There’s a band called Love Banana from the Gold Coast; they just moved to Sydney. Our buddy Riley plays in The Peewee50s from Newcastle. He’s got a funny side band with the singer from dust called The Crap. Fungas, they supported us when they were around 16, and I knew they were going to be writing big tunes when they got older.

Steve: pictures of yuki.

Josh: Stirr. We’re doing a few shows with them supporting a Canadian band called Cola. There’s also a band called Mouseatouille. Best band name I’ve ever heard.

Matt: For anyone travelling over to Australia and Sydney, do you have any hidden gems?

Josh: The Bat and Ball Hotel in Redfern. $1 oysters on a Saturday…

At that point, Steve and Josh got pulled out to finish up sound checking and prep for their launch party later, which I can assure you was an intimate, sweaty affair.

We’ve had ‘Limbo, Please Be Good To Me‘ on spin all week at the CLUNK office, and seriously recommend you dive in below. Once you’re done, check out some of the band recommendations from Steve and Josh and help their sounds reach a new space.