The Blood Brothers (Punk): Jordan Blilie (vocals, guitar, percussion); Johnny Whitney (vocals, piano, Wurlitzer piano, Farfisa, percussion); Cody Votolato (guitar, baritone guitar, E-bow, whistle, trumpet, percussion, background vocals); Morgan Hendersen (guitar, accordion, piano, synthesizer, double bass, bass guitar, background vocals); Mark Gajadhar (drums, percussion).
The Blood Brothers, thankfully, cannot be categorized. Too angular and arty for conventional headbangers, and too thrash-oriented for shoegazing indie kids, the ruckus the band creates simultaneously flays the nerves and engages the brain. CRIMES, the Brothers' fourth album, develops the sound pioneered on their previous releases, particularly the dual screaming-vocal duties of Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney. The relentless banshee screeches of both singers are hair-raising, and this, combined with the jagged, punk- and metal-influenced arrangements, proves to be the music's most distinguishing feature.
But the Blood Brothers are deeper and more complex than your average thrash outfit. Avant-garde atmospheric passages, unexpected moments of melodicism, and associative lyrics that read like a surrealist's word game add unique dimensions to CRIMES, as does the creative instrumentation (how many hardcore bands feature laptop, Farfisa, Wurlitzer, and trumpet?). Whether trafficking in the moody experimentation of post-punk and New Wave ("Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck") or the ferocious intensity of speed metal ("Trash Flavored Trash"), CRIMES is full of frantic, pummeling, inventive energy, and presents the Blood Brothers as one of the more distinctive rock bands on the scene.

Spin (p.98) - "CRIMES is the sound of young men converting all kinds of frustration into righteous wrath, eager to retake the streets and overthrow corporate oppression." - Grade: A-
Alternative Press (p.144) - 5 out of 5 - "The band's wondrously twisted, light-speed angularity is still in glorious effect."
Magnet (pp.86-8) - "Jumping, popping bass lines, reverberating with each motion up and down the scale, are all over the album's lower reaches, providing a thrillingly unstable foundation for the already-existent chaos atop it..."