If there’s a sound for dirty fingernails, cheap beer, late-night confessions, and growing up too fast in a small town, Crooked Cranes have nailed it. Their debut EP, This is Only a Test, released May 9th, 2025, is a raw and unfiltered trip through adolescence, heartache, chaos, and hazy wisdom, all carved out from the basement they quite literally grew up in—where they partied, made memories, and apparently lost more than just brain cells.
Formed in Fuquay Varina, North Carolina, Crooked Cranes are a tight-knit unit built from years of friendship. High school best friends Josh Faw, Dylan Hornaday, and Andrew Bateman, joined by Josh’s younger brother on bass, have created a sound that’s as scrappy as it is sincere. Drawing from influences like Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill, The White Stripes, and The Who, the Cranes deliver stoner rock with storytelling bite and garage-band soul.
What makes This is Only a Test compelling isn’t just the music—it’s the attitude. This is not a band concerned with polish or pretense. The EP was recorded in the same basement where these guys once crashed after house parties, and that spirit bleeds into every track. It’s lo-fi without being careless, nostalgic without being corny, and surprisingly honest despite the smoke and sarcasm.
The EP kicks off with “GF”, a song that’s equal parts absurd and compelling. It tells the story of a guy grappling with the revelation that his dad slept with his girlfriend. The lyrics straddle the line between anger and admiration—“Do I fight him, or shake his hand?”—and it’s backed by a riff-heavy jam that kicks the door open on the Cranes’ chaotic charm.
Next comes “Dolfin”, a hazy, surfy slow-burn about a mysterious girl who won’t share her name. It’s the EP’s moment of stillness, all while maintaining the stoner-rock groove that anchors the band’s identity. The follow-up, “Interstate Song,”extends the chill, turning the focus inward—think long drives, bad decisions, and smoke curling out of cracked windows.
“Met a Gurl” shifts gears again. This track dives into the aftermath of a doomed relationship and reads like a grunge-tinged divorce letter, complete with fuzzed-out guitars and punchy emotional detachment. It’s a song that proves these guys aren’t just goofing around—they know pain, and they know how to package it into something loud and lasting.
Closing out the record is “NeWay”, the ultimate stoner rock anthem. It’s about getting high and listening to music, and it feels like the most honest track on the record. No metaphor, no mystery—just a celebration of doing exactly what Crooked Cranes hope you’ll do while spinning this EP.
There’s something magnetic about a band that doesn’t take itself too seriously, yet still has something to say. This is Only a Test is fun and unfiltered, but it’s not hollow. The Cranes have a sense of humor, sure—but they’re also dealing with messy families, confusing relationships, real anxiety, and the inescapable feeling that life doesn’t come with instructions. It’s all in here, packed into 20-ish minutes of fuzzed-out, unpretentious storytelling.
And while some might call it lo-fi or DIY, what This is Only a Test really is—is real. It’s the kind of record that smells like weed and nostalgia, that reminds you of friends you’ve lost touch with and nights that didn’t end until the sun came up.
Crooked Cranes may have started in a basement, but This is Only a Test proves they’re not content to stay underground. They’ve bottled lightning—friendship, failure, and the weirdness of youth—and turned it into a fuzzed-out, riff-loaded debut that punches way above its weight.
If you’ve ever blasted Built to Spill in your buddy’s garage, nursed heartbreak over a case of cheap beer, or tried to make sense of the world through a smoky haze, then This is Only a Test will feel like home.
And if this is only a test, then Crooked Cranes have already passed with flying (and very crooked) colors.