Introducing: The Dead Krazukies

French band The Dead Krazukies offer up a hugely enjoyable nod to 90s skate punk with metal and hardcore edges that they summarise as “energetic, dramatic and catchy” – and definitely not emo.

The band, who hail from Hossegor in the south-east of France, initially started around 10 years ago with a few employees from surfing company Rip Curl. But a few lineup changes over the years led to the current lineup of Maider (lead vocals), Fafo (guitar and vocals), Jul1 (bass and vocals), Phil (drums and vocals) and most recent addition Seb (rhythm guitar).

And Maider describes the sound they’ve honed over the years as: “Simple catchy sad songs from the 90s era of skate punk with a female lead.”

We caught up with the band ahead of their most recent single Captain Crust from their excellent new album From The Underworld, which was released in June. Captain Crust opens up with a cool darting riff that’s joined by imitating vocals and driving drums. That drops into a lively verse led by Maider’s engaging vocals, which flows into a jaunty chorus “Break all my bones and blow my head, I’m already dead, Spill all my blood and pierce my brain, I’m already dead.” An extended second chorus drops into laid-back guitar, which flows into the opening riff and the energetic backing vocals, which set up a lively conclusion.

On the track, Maider told us: “We are super happy with the release of Captain Crust, looks like it will be one of our biggest Hits very soon. It’s not a typical DK song, it’s a jumping-shuffle-pirate-hymn and we are not used to doing songs like that. It’s also kind of a funny song, which tells the story of the drunkest man you can have at a show.” Check out this banger in the video below:

The album is packed with energetic punky goodness that delivers track after track. That includes the lively opener The Fallen And The Ferryman, which opens up with a piercing guitar lick then punchy chords lead into a faster riff and an engaging opening verse, which feeds into a big catchy chorus.

We also love songs like Darth Walnut, the intense and playful The Mindfucker, and a challenger for our personal favourite track The Wanderer, which opens up with a cool little riff and driving drums feeding into deliciously raspy vocals. Then there’s the band’s take on Michael Sembello’s Maniac, which you can check out in the video below:

The Dead Krazukies sound is honed by a shared love of their teenage idols NOFX, alongside bands from the epic Fat Wreck Chords (started by NOFX singer Michael Burkett) and Epitaph Records (started by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz) punk stables of the 90s. And their music is directly influenced by the likes of Rise Against, Anti-Flag, Sum41, Pour Habit and some old-school metal bands.

And on what inspires them to write music, Maider explains: “My writing is influenced by a lot of mediums, dark imagery, design, movies, news articles etc… Everything that can give a base idea, it can be a riff, or a bass intro or a drum pattern. The lyrics theme always come after the music is done, it helps a lot to set up the mood and find them.

“Most of our songs are sad, or based on sad/angry feelings. It is mostly about introspection, life stories or sad endings. No, we are not Emo. We also have pure idiotic lyrics like Short Song or The Mindfucker.”

We’ve not spoken to many French bands recently, and very few French punk bands ever. But Maider tells us: “The current punk scene in France is very small compared to a few years ago. Most of the bands sing in French, it’s even a style called French Punk with some pretty good bands like Charly Fiasco or Pogo Car Crash Control. We are part of really a few punk rock bands singing in English: Burning Head, Dirty Fonzy…maybe because we’re old? We feel more connected to the Euro Scene, with Drunktank or Heathcliff, March, CF98 etc…”

This may be one of our most exciting recent discoveries – we love the band’s energy and Maider’s engaging vocals have us hooked. The band has plans to play festivals across Europe and potentially head to Canada for their first-ever overseas tour – so watch out, Canada. They’re also focused on making videos to support the new album, with plenty more music to check out in their back catalogue including two more albums – including the equally excellent Icarus.

And Maider adds: “Go check our music on streaming platforms and our music videos on YouTube. Thanks to SBAM Records and Kicking Records for the support, Kicking Booking and Epic Merch Store!”

You can follow The Dead Krazukies on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.