New Single · Out April 17, 2026
Sci-Fi Radio
Synthesizer-driven discopunk from San Francisco. The first single from the forthcoming full-length on The Unknown International.
Synthesizer-driven discopunk from San Francisco. The first single from the forthcoming full-length on The Unknown International.
"Sci-Fi Radio" is the first transmission from The Crooked Stuff's next chapter — harder, colder, and more electronic than anything they've released before. Built on pulsing synth bass, dry disco drums, and Tom Gorton's deadpan-to-furious vocal, it lands somewhere between LCD Soundsystem's late-night nihilism and a Sleaford Mods broadcast from the edge of collapse.
Recorded between San Francisco and Marin with the trio's regular unit — Tom Gorton (vocals), John Robin Varn (keys / synths), Nick DeRyss (drums) — "Sci-Fi Radio" continues the sonic pivot the band began on the Darkphased EP: away from the funk-and-soul roots of their early work, into the harder, darker, synth-forward territory they've been road-testing in clubs across the Bay Area, the Mountain West, and at three shows at Sundance Film Festival in January.
The Crooked Stuff's last release, the Darkphased EP, built a deeper radio story than most bands get in their first decade. It charted on NACC at five stations, clocked 1,742+ tracked spins across 47 stations in 21 US markets, pulled 620 Shazams, and landed weekly rotation on Live 105's Soundcheck via Aaron Axelsen — the Bay Area DJ who first broke Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem and Gorillaz to US radio.
"Sci-Fi Radio" arrives with that audience already built, the trio already playing one of the key industry showcases of the spring (Popscene at Rickshaw Stop, April 17), and Aaron Axelsen already committed to weekly rotation.
Figures through March 2026 · Darkphased EP campaign · Apple Music reporting only (excludes KEXP, Live 105, 91X)
RIYL: IDLES · Nine Inch Nails · LCD Soundsystem · Prodigy · Queens of the Stone Age · TV on the Radio · Sleaford Mods · Sextile · The Faint
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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.