Crooks & Nannies
No Fun EP

January 13, 2023
(Grand Jury Records)

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Crooks & Nannies, the West Philadelphia duo of Madel Rafter (they/them) & Sam Huntington (she/her), just finished their first tour supporting Lucy Dacus, is back with a new single, “Sorry,” and the announcement of their No Fun EP for Grand Jury Music coming out January 13th, 2023. Crooks & Nannies No Fun EP will include three exclusive and unreleased tracks, which will only be available with a purchase of the cassette.

“Sorry” was written by Huntington in one sitting and sees Crooks & Nannies delving deeper into the twangy indie-rock with an edge of emo that permeates their new EP. Huntington, a trans woman, wrote the new track around the time she began transitioning from male to female. The song is full of frustrations; with herself, with the society she was in the process of coming out to, and the fears that accompany the courage of living authentically in a world that is, at every turn, hostile to trans people. Huntington’s vocals, captured in a one-take demo the day the song was written, are full of this heartbreak, quivering and shaking with intensity throughout.

The band’s last single, “control” saw Rafter writing about their struggles with mental health issues and grappling with intrusive thoughts. Rafter has a penchant for making jokes out of the darkness they're experiencing, and on "control," this is on full display. The track begins with Rafter's tender, cracking vocals eeking out the refrain “I wanna be in control.” As the song builds to its climax, their vocals build stronger, eventually rising to meet the track's energy into a pleading scream, begging for control.

Crooks & Nannies is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalists and friends since high school. Their signature blend of brash, confessional indie rock functions on extremes. Alternating between painfully tender and jarringly obtuse, the childhood friends fashion themes of growth, loss, and transformation into off-kilter pop songs that whirr with the unpredictability of a failing engine. Thematically, their songs tackle experiences with gender dysphoria, transitioning, anxiety, and finding a place as a 20-something in a world that feels utterly hostile. That search spills over into the music, too, a playground where each song's center of gravity seems unpredictable and fluid. Musically the duo slams against the contours of modern emo & 90s college rock, toying with tropes of country songwriting while threading through elements of electronic music & avant-pop. In less capable hands, the amalgam could be dizzying. Here, Rafter & Huntington are in complete control.

Crooks & Nannies On Tour

For more information, please contact:
Daniel Cooper
daniel@luckybirdmedia.com