14 Artists That Should Be on ‘The Crow’ Soundtrack
Is The Crow The Crow without the original motion picture soundtrack? Sure, the movie is great, a revenge fantasy with style, but does it have its staying power without a fantastic The Cure original song, Nine Inch Nails cosplaying Joy Division, or Stone Temple Pilot’s radio-friendly unit shifter? If you owned the CD, you played the hell out of that CD. With The Crow reboot finally happening, it’s time to pick out the 14 artists to take the place of the originals.
The goal for this OST reboot is to achieve the same feel as the original soundtrack. We’re not suggesting these 2024 artists are the sonic equivalents of the 1994 artists, but they do reflect the feeling of those acts. All of the following artists have released new music in the last year and all of the following artists would look neat wearing Crow makeup.
1. IDLES, “Gift Horse”
Compare to: The Cure, “Burn”
IDLES isn’t nearly as atmospheric as The Cure (who is?), but the English five-piece is in a similar place as The Cure was in 1994. That English five-piece was at a crossroads between their super goth and their more radio-friendly goth. IDLES is transitioning from post-punk faves to festival headliners, getting a bit more dancey and a tad less screamy. “Gift Horse’s” “Look at him go!!!!” achieves the same feeling as The Cure’s “Every night I…” IDLES may be louder, The Cure may be more pleading, but both are adamant in their desires, which is pretty much what every teenager that fell in love with The Crow is, too.
2. Yves Tumor, “God Is a Circle”
Compare to: Machines of Loving Grace, “Golgotha Tenement Blues”
I skipped track 2 on The Crow OST every time I could skip track 2. It’s not bad exactly, it’s just between The Cure and Stone Temple Pilots so why would I waste my time on this? “Golgotha Tenement Blues” is more atmospheric than anthemic so we’re going with a very atmospheric song that I don’t actually ever skip. Yves Tumor sounds and looks like he was made at a Crow dance party. Similar to Machines of Loving Grace, this Yves Tumor song also has quite distinctive parts and some Crow-appropriate lyrics: “Wander ’round, I just feel like a ghost in a well.”
3. 100 Gecs, “Hollywood Baby”
Compare to: Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Empty”
OK, let’s admit it, modern rock is dead. But we’re doing our best to shine a light on an up-and-coming act on their second album and might be headlining a festival near you, which is what Stone Temple Pliots was doing in 1994. “Big Empty” is on STP’s second album, Purple, and was heard on car radios everywhere, not just in The Crow. “Hollywood Baby” may not be on rock radio but it does have over 20 million Spotify streams, was featured on the duo’s second album, the group is headlining summer fests, and, most importantly, hits all the important rocking requirements.
4. Sleaford Mods, “West End Girls”
Compare to: Nine Inch Nails, “Dead Souls”
NIN’s take on the Joy Division classic is uber-sincere. It’s not possible to find that feeling right now and possibly ever again. Thankfully there aren’t nearly as many suicides of groundbreaking frontpeople. So how about another electronic-based veteran act with a penchant for abrasive sounds and confrontational lyrics reinterpreting an early 80s classic and injecting new meaning? Proceeds for this 2023 track are being donated to Shelter, a tenants’ rights organization.
5. Dead Pioneers, “No One Owns Anything & Death is Real”
Compare to: Rage Against The Machine, “Darkness”
This Denver-based band bills themselves as, “Punk, Indigenous, spoken word, and unapologetically disruptive.” That’s a pretty good description of the band. They’re a version of RATM that no fan of the GOP should ever be able to co-opt because they need to rock out at the gym. The original Crow OST had political songs and this one needs some, too. This is one of like five Dead Pioneers songs that would fit well on this soundtrack.
6. Yo La Tengo “Fallout”
Compare to: Violent Femmes, “Color Me Once”
The Violent Femmes are the band I most often forget are on The Crow OST. Their contribution isn’t bad, it’s just not goth or loud or electronic. But the song kinda fits the tone of the film. Another long-running act that tends to be a bit too quiet for The Crow crowd with many, many songs that would fit the feel of the film is Yo La Tengo and “Fallout” from their excellent This Stupid World, the seventeenth (!!!) album in their excellent catalog. Also, The Crow: This Stupid World is a good title for a film.
7. MSPAINT, “Decapitated Reality”
Compare to: Rollins Band, “Ghostrider”
Time for some confrontational dude rock! Who’s doing confrontational dude rock better than MSPAINT?
8. Teen Mortgage, “Sick Day”
Compare to: Helmet, “Milktoast”
Riffs, baby! Teen Mortgage plays a bit quicker than Helmet but delivers just as much, if not more, headbanging-friendly riffs. The duo is primed and ready for a big breakthrough and why can’t it be in the new Crow?
9. High Priest, “Down In the Dark”
Compare to: Pantera, “The Bridge”
Sure, Dimebag Darrell was an amazing guitarist and Pantera has some pretty badass riffs, but their entire ethos does not belong on The Crow OST. High Priest, a newish metal band made up of some metal vets, definitely belongs. We’re slowing things down from Pantera, going a bit heavier and a lot doomier, fitting the ethos of the big-screen story.
10. Scowl, “Shot Down”
Compare to: For Love Not Lisa, “Slip Slide Melting”
For Love Not Lisa reeks of 1994. Rather than try to emulate the grunge of it all, we’re highlighting the future/now ‘it’ sound made from guitars. Scowl is one of the best modern hardcore bands and thanks to Turnstile becoming 2024’s version of mainstream, the genre is having a moment. Scowl deserves a bigger moment.
11. Chelsea Wolfe, “House of Self-Undoing”
Compare to: My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, “After the Flesh”
Maybe the most appropriate act for The Crow, Chelsea Wolfe’s new record has one driving track that accomplishes what the original Thrill Kill Kult track does on the original soundtrack. Don’t sleep on the vets.
12. yeule, “dazies”
Compare to: The Jesus and Mary Chain “Snakedriver”
Pulsating and atmospheric, this yeule single checks way more boxes than Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Snakedrive” (“dazies” is a bit shoegaze, a bit pop, a bit industrial, it’s entirely great), but both songs set a mood, a very easy to find yourself nodding along to mood. There are dozens of amazing acts doing what The Jesus and Mary Chain did 30-40 years ago but why waste an opportunity to highlight an act that’s doing all that stuff and so much more?
13. LABRYS, “So Sad”
Compare to: Medicine and Robin Gutherie, “Time Baby III”
The strongest new entry on this updated OST, LABRYS has about a dozen songs that would fit the new edition of The Crow. Lyrically, this is the best fit. One of the perks of an OST is discovering new artists. Based on how few streams this 2024 track has, LABYRS definitely has the your-new-favorite-band potential.
14. Faye Webster, “But Not Kiss”
Compare to: Jane Siberry, “It Can’t Rain All the Time”
We need something catchy and anthemic to close out this soundtrack and film. The single from Faye Webster’s Underdressed at Symphony would take on a new meaning in The Crow and is already way more hummable than “It Can’t Rain All the Time.” The second verse of “But Not Kiss” isn’t about The Crow but it is absolutely about The Crow: “I want to see you in my dreams, but then forget / We’re meant to be, but not yet / You’re all that I have, but can’t get.”
Categorized:Editorials
