Crocodiles

Carnishing sunny melodies with a scuzzy recording style and lots and lots of feedback, Crocodiles' Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez met during their formative teenage years in San Diego. Playing together in various incarnations since then, including in the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower (Welchez on vocals &Rowell on guitar), the duo re-formed under the name Crocodiles in April 2008. After adjusting their lineup to include bassist Marco Gonzalez, keyboardist Robin Eisenberg, and drummer Anna Schulte, the group traveled from their hometown of San Diego to record their third full-length in Berlin. That album, Endless Flowers, was released in the spring of 2012 on Souterrain Transmissions in the U.K. and French Kiss in the U.S. Crocodiles' fourth album, 2013's very focused and poppy Crimes of Passion, was produced by the Raveonettes' Sune Rose Wagner and featured just the duo of Rowell and Welchez, plus the occasional guest on backing vocals and horns. Taking a break from the band, Welchez recorded an album with his wife, Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls, under the name Haunted Hearts. The group reconvened and set up shop in Mexico City to record its next album. Working with producer Martin Thulin, the duo continued refining the poppier aspects of its sound, while incorporating some Latin influences.