Hurrah for live music and the final return of the next installment of our music festival, Cro Cro Land. As a rule sequels can suck, filmwise, but happily that is not the case for our festival. Year one was hailed a mighty success and we will not disappoint you with this year’s venture.

Taking place over the weekend of 13 and 14 of April (yes it’s a two day event this year), we’re bringing the very best in alternative music to Croydon shores at the wonderful Stanley Arts in Norwood Junction.

So who is on the bill this year you might ask? Here’s the lowdown of some of the names that we have announced, but guess what, there’s more on the way.

(And if you haven’t already, you can get your ticket here.)

The Subways

The Subways remain one of the most exciting live bands on the current touring circuit, thrilling crowds with their explosive rock sound and wild stage performances.

The band have released five albums to date. Their sophomore, ‘ALL OR NOTHING’ (2008), was recorded in LA with heavyweight producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Garbage) and, is “Buoyed with emotional heft and supernova guitar riffs, wired around a maturing song craft” (MOJO).

She Drew The Gun

She Drew the Gun are a band from Wirral, England, fronted by singer/songwriter Louisa Roach. They won the Glastonbury Festival Emerging Talent competition in 2016. Their music is described as psych pop and is known for its often political lyrics. Playlisted on pretty much every major station in the UK, ripping up the stage at all the biggest festivals you can think of She Drew The Gun performed for us back in 2019 to a packed main stage crowd and we are dead chuffed to see them return this April.

Buzzard, Buzzard, Buzzard

Buzzard, Buzzard, Buzzard’s new album is due for release on 12 April via Communion Records. It will come shortly after the band’s forthcoming UK tour which is set to take place across March 2024.

Following on from their Welsh Music Prize nominated debut album ‘Backhand Deals’ in 2022, the band wrote and recorded the album at frontman and producer Tom Rees’ Rat Trap studio, the room where Rees has previously recorded and produced tracks for emerging talent Panic Shack, Do Nothing and The Bug Club. See them celebrating their album release at this year’s Cro Cro Land Festival.

Fraulein

This duo is on the rise. They just can’t stop selling out London shows such as The Windmill and Shacklewell Arms with their own unique blend of grunge alt rock. The pair are Joni Samuels and London-based Dutchman Karsten van der Tol. Loud and proud, they are an unstoppable force and it wouldn’t surprise us if they were next year’s headliners with the speed that they are scaling those music industry walls.

LIINES

Post-punks LIINES are Zoe McVeigh (vocals, guitar) and Leila O’Sullivan (drums). Formed in 2014, they’ve built a reputation as one of the most exciting acts to emerge from Manchester in recent years. Their sound is an infectious, urgent and at times furious blend of Riot Grrrl, post-punk and alt-rock sounds which take in elements of their collective influences. Since 2019, they’ve toured with Sleaford Mods and The Wedding Present and supported Ladytron, Ash and Desperate Journalist. They’ve been handpicked by Tim Burgess for festivals and were Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition finalists.  So yes, you really should catch their set!

Dogviolet

Formed by members of Naz & Ella, Dogviolet are one of our newer bands on the bill at this year’s Cro Cro Land. New, but already cementing themselves in the live music scene with a series of very cool support slots with the likes of Heartworms, The Wedding Present and Desperate Journalist.  If you’re into a spot of melodic grungy post-punk, then this is the band for you.

Berries

Totally smashed it for us in year one of Cro Cro Land. Fast forward from 2019 to present day and this band is FLY-ING! Signed to Xtra Mile Recordings, supporting Feeder on tour as well as a long list of past supports, it is not down to luck. Talent shines with every note played. Hooks, impressive riffs, brillant vocal delivery… Can you tell we like this band… A LOT, and so should you.

Maya Lakhani

I discovered Maya Lakhani back in lockdown when I had a weekly podcast show with my band mates called ‘Rock Pop Rambles’. We really loved her song ‘Walk Alone’ and have been hooked ever since. British Indian Rock Artist Maya Lakhani, was born into the rock scene, playing in bands from the age of 12. When the pandemic hit, Maya felt a deep need to create music. With no band and in isolation, she learnt how to write, record and produce music from her bedroom, performing all guitars and vocals, and this is when I stumbled across her stuff.  She has grown as an artist since those times and is a fave on BBC Introducing. You can watch part of her session here.

Now onto some of the Croydon bands playing the festival

Fightmilk

Front person Lily resides in Croydon and her band Fightmilk are no strangers to Cro Cro Land. They’ve played up and down the country, signed record deals, been blasted out across national radio with many a fine review from respected publications. They played for us back in 2019 and we are delighted to have them back once again. This is indie dream pop at its best.

Bugeye

I am delighted to have my band back at Cro Cro Land after a successful run of shows that saw us take to the stage of Camden’s Koko with The Bluetones. Like most of the bands we’ve mentioned, since year one we signed a record deal, put out our debut album, played support for some VERY cool bands, She Drew The Gun being one of them. Sold out our own UK tour, grown support for our music across Radio X, BBC Introducing, 6Music and Radio 1 as well as having pretty much the best fans a band could ask for. It’s been a blast.

Here’s our most recent video with us looking… somewhat different. Yes we play all the main characters in this, and yes that is me with a bald cap and glasses.

Ski Lift

We’ve shouted about this band before and put them on at Front Room as part of As The Cro Cro Flies. This is Ski Lift, laid back indie pop. Heartwarming and nostalgic, their music is beautiful, their lyrics smart and their melodies lush. Ski Lift is the project of Welsh songwriter Benji Tranter who now resides in Croydon. We were first made aware of Ski Lift by DJ legend John Kennedy from Radio X. If you have JK giving your band’s name out as a personal recommendation, then that says a lot about them as a band. They are quite simply brilliant.

This is just a glimpse of some of the bands at this year’s festival.  We will be covering all the bands on the bill in the coming weeks, but hopefully this has been a good introduction.. We have so many more bands to tell you about, some of which haven’t been announced yet…

Bring on 13 and 14 April at Stanley Arts. Get your ticket now here.

Find out more about Cro Cro Land on the website, Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook.

Posted by Angela