Small Crush is the passion project of front woman Logan Hammon, based in the Bay Area of California. Started by Hammon and guitarist Jackson Felton, the addition of drummer Allen Moreno and bassist Dino Bevilacqua has developed Small Crush’s emotional indie rock sound with their junior album, Penelope, released September 15, 2023. Penelope gives the appearance of a concept album, telling a love story full of ups and downs, with additions of songs lamenting one’s love for another, questioning the legitimacy of the affection, and perhaps most importantly, questioning how to express their love to another.
The guitar and drum beat of Small Crush’s Penelope is slow but refuses to overstay its welcome. The natural reaction is to sway back and forth to the rhythm, relishing Hammon’s emotional portrayal of this love story. Echoing former Small Crush albums, the repeated chorus is never overdone, keeping up innovation in the minute changes in Hammon’s vocals.
The second to last song on the album, “This Time Around”, holds a more direct and strong rhythm while maintaining Hammon’s passionate, drawn-out vocality, with a guitar section echoing classic 90s rock before mellowing into the traditional Small Crush sound, picking back up with a masterful guitar solo combining the two sounds around two minutes into the track.
“Sweetest”, the album’s capstone, is even slower than the other tracks, including plucky electric guitar and lyrics that are drawn out, even beyond Small Crush’s traditional vocal sound. The repetition of “didn’t know I could feel this way” echoes the overarching message of Penelope, the questioning of this crush and relationship, unable to decipher the complicated feelings hidden behind the slow-moving guitar and comforting rhythms. The secret of Small Crush’s Penelope is while the instrumentals portray a comforting scenario, the lyrics portray a story of questioning other’s love in you, if what you want is truly what you need, and if this love is worth it in the face of potential rejection. Hammon continues to state they don’t know if the relationship will happen, she doesn’t know if the feelings are requited, but it’s almost like that doesn’t matter. The uncomfortable question of if your love exists only in one way does not matter, for the sound of Small Crush never supposes awkwardness or difficulty. The awkwardness of that love is nothing in the face of the love itself, which Small Crush is able to portray in such a genuine, beautiful way.
If you enjoy Small Crush, they are traveling alongside Jeff Rosenstock for the second half of his HELLMODE tour in late 2023.
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