See Dead Cross, Retox, Qui Members Rage in C*nts' New "Ass to Grind" Video | Page 3 | Revolver

See Dead Cross, Retox, Qui Members Rage in C*nts' New "Ass to Grind" Video

L.A. punks aim to recreate the danger of early Cows, Jesus Lizard and Die Kreuzen

Already infamous in the L.A. underground for their unhinged, sometimes violent live shows since forming in early 2018, punk-rock miscreants Cunts feature the inimitable talents of Michael Crain (Dead Cross, Retox) and Matt Cronk (Qui). The band just dropped their self-titled debut album today, November 1st, via Ipecac Recordings, and they've consummated that release — which, by the way, features one of the most obscenely awesome album covers of the year (see below) — with a ferocious new music video, for the song "Ass to Grind."

The three-minute ripper is, according to Cronk, "a lamentation on failed relationships, both specific to myself and in broad, universal strokes, and the assumed victimization inherent in romance for both (all?) parties involved." He adds that it also "touches on the notion of a presumed heroism in co-opting the tragic circumstances and victimization of others, as though in so doing, one achieves virtue and depth of character by proxy; an unpleasant byproduct of the well-meaning naive."  

The "Ass to Grind" video, meanwhile, doesn't have the same lofty aspirations: Centered around a particularly intense and menacing live performance of the song in a stark, sparsely lit space, it's all about aggression and chaos. Which are both core to the band's formative mission. "Everyone in the band has known each other for a long time, we are all friends. The band actually started as a joke on a group thread," Crain has explained. "We were reminiscing about early Cows, Jesus Lizard and Die Kreuzen performances and how organically dangerous and uncontrolled they were. That was our hugest source of inspiration for starting this band, to try and recreate that magic. A few of us have been in bands with each other before, so we already knew we had chemistry but as soon as we all got together to jam for the first time, we knew that this was going to be a fun project." Indeed.

c*nts album cover

Cunts track listing:
1. Ass to Grind
2. Dying to Hit
3. A Hero's Welcome
4. Cholos on Acid
5. Seagulls
6. Cholos on PCP
7. Goin' Out West (Tom Waits cover)
8. He's A Lady
9. Supervised Visits
10. You Should See My Dad's
11. Fail At Failure
12. Fuck You for Your Service
13. The Greater Good