Crooked Spies

Sweaty palms and beat red
bliss, broken strings with an electric kiss. 

From an outsider looking in this
concisely paints a picture of Crooked Spies, a four-piece rock band hailing from Calgary, AB. It is not an unfamiliar site to witness cascading riff
driven guitars played from the flat of their backs and soaring vocal harmonies,
echoed through the room compliments of the band’s front men and brothers Dylan
and Steven Evanik.

Influenced heavily by the garage rock revival and classic rock, they adhere to a raw & natural, "passion vs. fashion" approach to the art form having been compared to acts such as The Black Keys, The Raconteurs,
RATM and Danzig.

Having recently released their sophomore album, High Plains, it was important for these visceral aspects of their live performance to be conveyed to listeners. Clearly taking pride in the raw and poetic aspects of their songs, High Plains is a “high energy piece of work” with “an upbeat and charged collection of tracks,” (The Gauntlet). More subtly the record reflects a long distance love affair to music.

Pieced together through late night phone calls, voice memos and messy software, the album was constructed with members living in Vancouver and Calgary throughout the entirety of the process. “I think the distance between us helped shaped the record in a more organic and creative way. We couldn’t be in a rush to finish, giving us the time to make a cohesive but diverse piece of work,” says Dylan.

The result as Mike Bell describes is “A gnarly, almost belligerently
cool slab of stoner rock, muscled up pop punk and the 90’s mostly metal of acts
like Masters of Reality, Rollins Band, Fluf and Danzig, the latter a common
comparison for Crooked Spies due to Evaniks guttural man sized growl.” The
album’s energy is undeniable, providing listeners with an upbeat
and charged collection of tracks that stay fresh with each listen.

Though separated for the past two years the progression of the group has yet to subside with the opportunity to support such acts as Danko Jones, We Hunt Buffalo, The Motorleague, Bend Sinister, The Penske File, High Kicks, Belvedere, and Whitey Houston.

The gents are set to tour the new album this new year with dates to include Vancouver,
Kelowna, Golden, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. Don’t miss Crooked
Spies at Big Winter Classic this January supporting the likes of Less Than Jake, Red Fang, Metz and many more.