With a tune that flows even more confidently and eternal than the River Holme, those Holmfirth lads The Simones have given us an early spring high tide for 2021 with their new song Crocodile Tears.

Crocodile Tears successfully articulates a sense of one of those emotional seesaw evenings; everyone is your bessie mate, the person who has caught your eye feels like they are the love of your life, but your emotions switch in a moment, and you end up feeling shaky and lost when your hopes don’t go to plan.

In Crocodile Tears, the line “hold me in another life” just slays it as a statement of yearning and loss. Likewise, I can admit I completely relate to a drunken fascination with collecting portable road signs. 

I am stupidly enthusiastic about many of the artists and tracks I review, but amongst them, I admit to favourite children and the music of the The Simones are definitely one of my premier league teams.

The Simones (Ned Johnson (guitar), Jack Marsden (Guitar), Josh Cooper (Drums), and Nathan Mabey (Bass and Vocals) plough their own furrow, and while you can detect sone clear and obvious influences in many bands’ music, it is not distinct with The Simones. Instead, the band vibe their own distinctive theme, which harks back to the classic days of rock without sounding tired or heavy.

Basically, to my mind The Simones are less about chasing the short term trends, and all about good old fashioned quality rocky sounds, done with an injection of bouncing youth. There’s choppy, catchy guitar riffs and the drums and bass have a lively power which lift the tune along.

The young band celebrate their half decade together in 2021 after forming as a school project. Those countless hours rehearsing together as young teens are paying dividends.

I will just shout out to the video and promo image for Crocodile Tears. Louis Ashby is genius; a young video artist I’ve been following for a year or two. We all know it; money and set options are tight, but Louis makes great use of photo angle, timing and individual performance to draw the song and the guys on a simple stage together. You could spend 100 times as much on a video and not get that relationship.

Crocodile Tears is a track that will feature on The Simones forthcoming EP Our Magic Taxi.

Chris R

* Images taken from the band’s publicity material