Crabcore: If you haven't heard of this before then where have you been?

New musical genres emerge all the time. Most are combinations of previous genres (shoegaze plus synth pop equals glo-fi), so very few contemporary genres are actually entirely new. Crabcore is a rare example of originality, but not in a typical way.

Instead of being named for the style of music, “crabcore” emerged from the dance moves pioneered in a single band’s music video. Not to be confused with the Welsh group Attack! Attack!, Westerville, Ohio’s very own Attack Attack! created the crabcore genre with their video “Stick Stickly” off of their 2008 debut album, “Someday Came Suddenly.”

Musically, “Stick Stickly” is a culmination of many of elements in current scenester metalcore: watered down hardcore, nerdy keyboard breakdowns, and the standard contrast between brutal screams and whiny emo vocals. As noticed by the band Brokencyde, a crunk screamo pioneer, there is a huge hip-hop obsession in the scenester world. Not surprisingly, the whiny emo vocals in “Stick Stickly” are obviously auto-tuned. Crabcore is T-Pain meets metal but the music here is not what’s important—it’s the dance moves.



At first glance, the “Stick Stickly” video seems to be a normal metalcore video; there’s a bunch of guys in black, a menacing decrepit building in a field and a fairly terrifying-looking girl wandering around in a white dress. Further shots of the group’s performance reveal a considerable deviation from the typical metal video style when the group begins to do synchronized frog hops along with very impressive guitar spins and flips.

The first breakdown is when Attack Attack! earns the crabcore tag. The camera focuses on the guitarist, who crouches down very low and begins to sway back and forth like a crab. Equally ridiculous, the band decides to switch from metal to electronica at the end of the song while running in place. This unusual new style boasts a rising fan base, though a good deal of enthusiasm for crabcore and Attack Attack! is mainly tongue-in-cheek. People have also made numerous parody videos and groups on Web sites such as YouTube and last.fm to satire the absurdity of crabcore.

Crabcore bands continue to emerge. Las Vegas-based This Romantic Tragedy somehow took crabcore to even more ridiculous heights in their video for “The Worst Part is Waking Up.” In the video, the group makes crabcore their own: guitar flips are more extreme, the crab move is given much more screen time and there is even a keyboard slam during a breakdown. However, unlike Attack Attack!, This Romantic Tragedy doesn’t seem to realize that crabcore is pure ridiculous fun. They take it very seriously.



Attack Attack! has not made any videos since “Stick Stickly,” but with a new album to be released in 2010 there is considerable anticipation for the band’s response to the hype and their ever-growing fan base. With the recently announced song title “Sexual Man Chocolate,” Attack Attack! seems to be on the right track.