Pottsville rockers Crobot sink claws into Janet Jackson’s ‘Black Cat’ on North American tour
From a press release:
As Crobot crosses the paths of hard rock fans across North America this summer, the Pottsville natives have unleashed their feral take on Janet Jackson’s 1990 hit “Black Cat.”
Dropping today on all major streaming platforms via Mascot Records, the new single brings out the built-in heavy rock elements and crossover appeal of the Grammy-nominated 16th track on “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814.”
“Every time we talked about covering a song, ‘Black Cat’ would come up as one we wished we had written, so here’s our chance to pay homage to the great Janet Jackson. It’s got all the things that go into the Crobot sound – badass riffs, a funky groove for days, and soaring high vocals. What’s not to like about this tune? It’s even got cowbell!” vocalist Brandon Yeagley explained.
This release coincides with the beginning of their Serious Rock Business Tour. The month-long headlining run with Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol as support starts tonight in Lawrence, Kansas and takes them through Wisconsin, Michigan, North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and parts of Canada before wrapping up in Houston, Texas on Aug. 4. Local fans can catch them on Monday, July 17 at the Crafthouse Stage & Grill (5024 Curry Rd., Pittsburgh); Friday, July 21 at The Chance Theater (6 Crannell St., Poughkeepsie, NY); and Saturday, July 22 at Mickey’s Black Box (101 Rock Lititz Blvd., Lititz), about an hour drive from their hometown.
That’s nothing for the Schuylkill County group – they’ve crisscrossed the United States and the world in road-warrior style many times before, playing with the likes of Anthrax, Danzig, Black Label Society, Chevelle, Clutch, Volbeat, Halestorm, GWAR, Cradle of Filth, Steel Panther, and more. They’ve lit up festivals like Rocklahoma and Aftershock and cruises like ShipRocked and Chris Jericho’s Rock ‘N’ Wrestling Rager at Sea, among others.
“We tour the pockets off of our pants and sleep in our van for half of the year. To some, that may seem like misery but, to us, it’s heaven, baby!” the frontman said.
In a recent live stream chat with fans, he noted “Black Cat” was recorded during the same sessions as their latest studio album, “Feel This,” which has racked up 4.3 million streams since its release last June.
Yeagley, guitarist Chris Bishop, and drummer Dan Ryan picked up where they left off with “Motherbrain,” whose cumulative streams have now surpassed 33 million, two thirds of which were for the goliath track “Low Life,” a Top 10 single on active rock radio with a 29-week run on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
The 2019 album represented a high watermark for the band after they made waves with “The Legend of the Spaceborne Killer” (2012), “Something Supernatural” (2014), and “Welcome to Fat City” (2016), though Yeagley believes that “Feel This” is “the record we’ve been wanting to do ever since we started” in 2011.
“We’ve always thought of ourselves as a live act. When [producer] Jay Ruston described his process of recording, we were beyond excited about getting in and getting our hands dirty. It involved performing live as a unit and finishing all instruments on a song before moving on to the next. We recorded 16 songs in 21 days, which is a feat in itself.”
Another is not repeating themselves, but moving forward with each new collection of songs.
“We never want to make the same album twice,” Yeagley emphasized. “There is something for every Crobot fan out there as well as newcomers. At the same time, we’re having fun. We want to be taken seriously, but not too seriously, because this is monkey hour, after all.”
“That’s the fucking line right there,” Bishop agreed. “We want you to walk away smiling. If I can make you smile, I’ve done my job.”
Watch an hour-long live stream with Yeagley discussing the Serious Rock Business Tour, “Black Cat,” and more below:
Photo by Stesha Whitney
