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Punk rockers Starcrawler formed in 2015 in Los Angeles, Californiaand quickly formed a sound and attitude that placed them somewhere
between the punk/hard rock of fellow L.A. natives the Runaways and the
shock tactics of legendary metal band Black Sabbath. With crunchy
guitars, melodies that boast a bit of glam-influenced swagger (even when
they’re in a minor key), and a heavy rhythmic
stomp, Starcrawler established their raunchy sonic template on their
self-titled 2018 debut album, and upped the ante on 2019’s Devour You,
which sounded bigger and more aggressive while also boasting a glossier
sound.
The seeds of Starcrawler were sown at Grand Arts High School
when Arrow de Wilde met Henri Cash and he asked her to join the
fledgling music project he’d started with Austin Smith. As the daughter
of musician Aaron Sperske (Beachwood Sparks, Ariel Pink) and
photographer Autumn de Wilde — along with her experience as a model for
Teen Vogue and a spot in a Lena Dunham-directed Bleachers video — her
popular culture credentials were already established. Taking up lead
vocal duties, she, along with Cash (guitar) and Smith (drums), swiftly
recorded the first Starcrawler single, “Ants.” Tim Franco was enlisted
on bass shortly thereafter, and the single was picked up by Elton
John for his Beats 1 radio show.
Cash and de Wilde became the band’s primary songwriters, and they
gigged extensively across L.A. with psych-rock revivalists the Lemon
Twigs. Starcrawler rapidly built a reputation for their wildly campy and
theatrical performances. De Wilde made prolific use of fake blood
on-stage — no doubt a nod to her hero Ozzy Osbourne — and often donned a
hospital gown or a straitjacket for shows. At an in-store set at Amoeba
Music, the band was introduced to Beck’s ten-year-old daughter Tuesday,
who would later appear in the cover art for Starcrawler’s debut record
in a blood-stained dress. They spent 2017 touring hard, appearing at the
Foo Fighters’ Cal Jam in San Bernardino, Echo Park Rising in L.A., and
the Joshua Tree Happening Desert Daze. Their live performances caught
the eyes and ears of Ryan Adams, who went on to record the band’s first
album to analog tape at his own Pax-Am Studio. Their self-titled debut
long-player was released by the independent label Rough Trade in January
of 2018.
After a long round of touring in North America, Europe, and the
United Kingdom, Starcrawler headed back to the studio to cut their
second album. Produced by Nick Launay, Devour You was issued in October
2019 and featured a bigger and more robust sound that matched the
bombast of their songs. In October 2020, Starcrawler released a limited
edition single, “Lizzy” b/w “Bet My Brains,” that was recorded live to
tape at Third Man Records in Nashville and issued by the same label.
That same month, drummer Austin Smith left the group.
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