Ex-Strokes member plays with CRX at the Coda | The Triangle

Ex-Strokes member plays with CRX at the Coda

If you haven’t heard of the band CRX yet, you are sure to be hearing more about them very soon. In 2013, lead singer and guitar player from The Strokes, Nick Valensi, began taking small steps to form the band as a side project.

They just recently released their debut album “New Skin” through Columbia Records Oct. 28, sparking some attention from many people, especially Strokes fans. Their sound feels like a unique combination of The Strokes and Cheap Trick; powerful pop and alternative with a small taste of hard rock.

CRX began their tour in Los Angeles in August and just made their stop in Philly at the Coda on Nov. 19. The band brought quite a powerful energy to the stage throughout their performance.

They started out with a bang, performing one of the more upbeat classic rock and roll songs on the album, “On Edge.” After this they played “Give It Up” followed by one of their more popular songs, “Broken Bones.”

The audience was extremely pumped at this point, jamming out to these tunes and vibing with the tremendous energy that the band brought.

One of the last songs they played was their most popular, “Ways to Fake It,” and it was by far my favorite performance. The song has a very similar style to The Strokes, but with much more of a hardcore and rock-and-roll vibe, which CRX was able to portray very well in their performance.

One thing that stood out to me during this show was how constant of an effort the band made to communicate with the crowd; they were giving shout outs to fans who they saw were really enjoying themselves, and making sure that we were all getting a kick out of their performance.

Having the show at a smaller club-like venue like the Coda really allowed for the band to give more of an intimate performance for its fans, allowing them to connect with everyone in the room which created quite a stimulating ambiance.

After talking to a few people that attended the show, I noticed that only some had heard of CRX, and those that did commented on how great their debut album was and how impressed they were at their show.

Those that weren’t as familiar claimed that they had heard that Nick from the Strokes was the leader of the band, causing them to want to check the show out.

I feel that their first album did a fine job of compiling catchy rock melodies in every song that will easily seep into your brain. The band has certainly not received as much attention as I believe they are capable of, since they are just at the beginning stages of this new chapter as CRX.

I do think that they have a lot of potential, and I am very excited to see what else is to come from them as I really enjoyed their live performance.