EP · Released September 20, 2025
Darkphased
A high-energy collision of electronic rock and existential discopunk intensity. Three tracks exploring disassociation, rumination, and the twisted pathways toward liberation.
A high-energy collision of electronic rock and existential discopunk intensity. Three tracks exploring disassociation, rumination, and the twisted pathways toward liberation.
Across three tracks — "Decimator," "Black Holes," and "Die This Way" — Darkphased explores the dark pull of modern technology and media entrapments. A sonic mash-up of synthetic funk and electronic four-to-the-floor that moves bodies, probes minds, and leaves listeners simultaneously unsettled and energized.
With a sound forged from the founders' wide spectrum of musical roots — hardcore punk, new wave, funk, psychedelic rock, and analog-electronic experimentation — The Crooked Stuff proved with Darkphased that they are a sonic force to be alternatively tangled with.
The Darkphased EP was serviced to college and non-commercial radio via Pirate Promo (Steve Theo) in a 6-week campaign beginning fall 2025. The results built a national radio footprint that continues to grow.
Figures through March 2026 · Apple Music reporting only (excludes KEXP, Live 105, 91X)
NACC chart positions: KTCU (Dallas-Fort Worth) #21, KTSW (Austin) #20, KRSC (Chicago) #16, KRNU (Philadelphia) #11, + 1 additional market. Weekly rotation on Live 105's Soundcheck with Aaron Axelsen — the Bay Area DJ who first broke Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem and Gorillaz to US radio.
RIYL: TV On The Radio · LCD Soundsystem · Gorillaz · The Prodigy · Justice · The Chemical Brothers · IDLES · Nine Inch Nails
Darkphased is available now on all major streaming platforms.
Spotify Apple MusicFull-quality WAV delivery via DISCO — streams in-browser, downloads directly, no login required.
Decimator Black Holes Die This Way
A San Francisco trio — Tom Gorton (vocals), John Robin Varn (keys / synths), and Nick DeRyss (drums) — making synthesizer-driven discopunk for the collapse.
Three shows at Sundance Film Festival in January 2026. Weekly rotation on Live 105's Soundcheck with Aaron Axelsen. Sold-out hometown shows at Papermill and Crazyhorse. Shared stages with Tank & the Bangas, Fishbone, Monophonics, and Dumpstaphunk. Press coverage tracking the band's pivot from their funk-and-soul origins into the harder, colder territory they now call home.
Arise. Release. Be free.