Criminal Hygiene formed at the venerable East LA joint Purgatory Pizza, which, as LA Weekly notes, is also where FIDLAR got their start. But where that latter band rode a grease-slicked track of hyper-catchy power-punk to main-stage slots at major festivals, Criminal Hygiene seem destined to a different fate, at least if their stylistic antecedents are any indication; rare is the punk band whose chief influences include On the Beach and Alex Chilton.
“Dangers of Convenience,” the band’s new single that we’re premiering this morning, is a shaggy rocker borne up by singer Michael Fiore’s hoarse, Westerbergian shout. That slurry resemblance can be uncanny, particularly when the band shift into the chorus with the kind of descending four-note run that The Replacements always used to either telegraph their intelligence or downplay their sophistication; this is too smart for punk and too hokey for pop. “There’s something to be said of the dangers of convenience,” Fiore sings, though he never gets around to saying it.
Criminal Hygiene are currently out on the road with Bleached. Give a listen to “Dangers of Convenience” and check those dates below.
Criminal Hygiene tour dates
