My Crush on Skullcrusher's Storm in Summer: EP Review

Album: Storm in Summer

Artist: Skullcrusher

Genre: (#alt #indiefolk #indie)

Sub-Genres: (#neofolk #singersongwriter #mellow)

Label: Secretly Canadian

Non-Airable Tracks: none

Description: It feels like Skullcrusher’s EP: Storm in Summer does everything to solidify my fetish for the banjo. Along the coordinate of indie-folk/country revival artists (where Faye Webster would fall within the Nashville sound and Orville Peck to Western), Skullcrusher falls deep in Appalachian pastiche in Storm in Summer. The EP is short, clocking in at 15 minutes, and is a super easy listen. The instrumentation in the intro of the first and third track stand out to me—the first reminiscent of someone tooling around with an acoustic guitar aside from a campfire. The intro of the third track: “Steps” is so pleasing to me in how it builds wonderfully into vocals reminiscent of Sidney Gish in No Dogs Allowed (2017). This EP is released under the independent label: Secretly Canadian, which hosts names of equal clout in the indie-folk scene like Alex Cameron, Faye Webster, and Stella Donnelly. With this release, Skullcrusher has cemented her place in the ensemble of contemporary independent folk and country musicians who have made the genre far more accessible to the average listener. Check this out in the pleasant cool of a late spring or early summer evening.

Listen if you Like:

1. Faye Webster

2. Aldous Harding

3. Phoebe Bridgers

Recommended Tracks:

1. ​Windshield

2. Steps

Reviewer’s Name: Tobias Kochenderfer

Date of Review: 4/26/21