On their debut EP, We Are The Creepy Crawlies, the band presents five short, sharp tunes that embody the band’s ethos. “I started the band with [bass player] Jeff Bones at the start of the pandemic shutdown,” said Sarah Coykendall, the only band member who’s been with the group since its beginnings.
“Jeff was in the Eddie Haskells and the Mad Manics, but moved to Texas after we started the Crawlies,” she added. “We went through several players before becoming the quartet we are now.”
The current lineup—Fuzz Master on lead guitar; Thor Dsr on drums and Jenni Coppertone on bass—came together last year. Soon after, they headed into District Recording in San Jose to cut We Are The Creepy Crawlies. The band produced it themselves, with studio owner Ryan Perras engineering.
The tunes were recorded live, in one take, onto analog tape. “We wanted to capture the feel of a live Creepy Crawlies performance,” Master said. “Ryan’s very creative and has an arsenal of devices. We were able to add some spectacular analog effects to the vocals.”
“Little Creep,” an Eddie Haskells song, is a jolt of pure punk energy, driven by Master’s distorted guitar and the high-speed rhythms of Dsr and Coppertone. Coykendall screams a lyric that describes a self-destructive spree, with gleeful disregard for consequences.
The momentum continues with “Creatures.” Coykendall shrieks the words over a blistering tempo, driven by feedback-drenched guitar and a galloping rhythm. The tag line is straight out of a second-rate horror movie: “Creatures are coming for you. We’re children of the night.”
Coykendall said, “Horror has been a huge love of mine. In my 20s, I became obsessed with horror films—both classic and campy. I’ve explored it through performance and art for years, and I love the metaphors it opens up. I’ve always loved creating those kinds of effects on stage.”
Early on, she said, the Crawlies performed in full undead makeup. But they slowly moved away from that look.
“Recently, we’ve been talking about how to bring the horror themes out in a different way,” Coykendall said. “Using visuals and atmospheric elements that feel more mysterious and elegant. Moving forward, we’re leaning more toward a Vincent Price-style vibe than camp.”
Since they’ve eschewed an obviously theatrical approach, the band is searching for other ways to bring out the implied darkness in their sound. “We talk a lot about the music being like a wall of energy and sound,” Coykendall said. “I wouldn’t say our show is ‘creepy’ in the way people might expect. It’s not about jump scares or theatrics. It’s more about the mood it creates. The intensity, the energy, the atmosphere—that’s where the creepiness lives.”
Since the reaction to the We Are The Creepy Crawlies EP was positive, the band returned to the studio, with Perras co-producing, to complete their still unnamed, debut album.
“The first single, ‘Graveyard Love/Killing Me,’ will come out later this year,” Master said. “The full length will be available next year. Our plan is to release the music as a series of singles on vinyl.”
The band will play local dates as they plan their next move. “We’ve been writing and writing and writing,” Coykendall said. “Honestly, we’re a completely different band than when I started. That’s not at all a slight to the former members, who helped build this.
“We’re carving out, and are continuing to carve out, something that’s uniquely us. ‘Us’ being the key word,” she continued.
“Playing music is a muscle you have to develop, until it’s a part of you and something you feel. This band is lucky to have everyone bringing the same intensity and conviction to the table. You can feel it in our songs and performances,” Dsr said.
“I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished over the last five years,” Coykendall said. “I’m surprised that we’ve managed to keep it going, even with all the member changes. I feel really lucky to be in a band where I genuinely love, respect and am constantly impressed by the people I get to be on stage with.”
Listen to ‘We are The Creepy Crawlies’ at thecreepycrawliessf.bandcamp. Follow the band at facebook.com/creepycrawliesband/ and instagram.com/creepycrawliesband.
