REVIEW: Crawlers - LIVE WITH THIS

Not everything needs to end in a spectacular breakdown. Sometimes the hardest part is picking yourself up, looking at the absolute state of everything and deciding to get on with it. For CRAWLERS, LIVE WITH THIS feels like exactly that kind of reckoning.

Following the grief and loss explored on TURN OFF THE TV, the four-track EP shifts the narrative towards something altogether different: growth, acceptance and learning to make peace with the things that have shaped you. Not necessarily moving on, and certainly not pretending everything is suddenly wonderful, but recognising that the past isn't going anywhere and finding a way to live alongside it. It's a change in perspective rather than a clean break, and that distinction gives the project its weight.

Opening with BIRTHDAY, the EP begins its next chapter before BORN SCREAMING comes crashing in with grunge-soaked riffs and a gloriously unapologetic attitude. There's an almost sarcastic ‘fuck it’ running through the track, capturing the familiar experience of waking up and willingly signing yourself up for another 24 hours of whatever fresh hell the world has decided to throw your way. It's a suitably defiant response to the daily chaos: if the options are laugh, scream or simply get out of bed and do it all again, CRAWLERS seem happy to choose all three. The track's grungier edge also gives the EP a welcome burst of bite, keeping its more reflective themes from becoming too comfortable.

DIRTY PARTS OF HEAVEN takes a more introspective turn. Written during a period of recalibration for Holly, the track looks back on those fleeting moments of connection found on dancefloors and in bathroom stalls. There's something wonderfully human about its subject matter, particularly when considering the relationship between escapism, alcohol and the need to feel connected to something. It's nostalgic without being entirely sentimental, looking back at the thrill of those nights while questioning whether the things we once relied on to feel alive are actually necessary to experience that same connection. The idea isn't to dismiss those memories, but to understand them differently. Sometimes growing up means realising the feeling you were chasing was never entirely about what was in your glass.

Then there's SURE OF IT, which delivers one final powerhouse vocal statement. There's no tiptoeing around the message here. It's a call to stop fighting what's already happened and start facing whatever comes next. The sense of looking forward feels particularly fitting after the EP's moments of reflection; rather than tying everything up with an impossibly neat bow, CRAWLERS leave the listener with a push towards acceptance.

What makes LIVE WITH THIS particularly interesting is the shift in perspective. CRAWLERS aren't trying to recreate the emotional weight of TURN OFF THE TV, nor are they offering some glossy, neatly packaged version of healing. Instead, the EP acknowledges that growth can be messy, that acceptance doesn't erase what happened and that finding peace doesn't mean every question has been answered.

The last couple of years have clearly been a period of reckoning for the band. Yet, as Holly explains, they've found their way back to the group that started in a shed in Warrington, only now with more confidence, experience and a much clearer understanding of what matters. Their fans and the inner circle surrounding CRAWLERS remain at the centre of it all. There's something fitting about that return to the band's beginnings: not going backwards, but recognising what made the whole thing worth pursuing in the first place.

At four tracks, LIVE WITH THIS doesn't hang around, but it doesn't particularly need to. It's a concise statement of intent from a band embracing change rather than running from it. There's still plenty of grit, plenty of attitude and enough emotional honesty to stop this feeling like a simple exercise in positive thinking. It may be a shorter chapter, but it feels like an important one in understanding where CRAWLERS go from here.

CRAWLERS have spent time sitting with the uncomfortable stuff. Now they're learning to live with it. And frankly, that's a far more interesting place to start than pretending everything is fine.

Score: 8/10

LIVE WITH THIS will be released on 13th November 2026 via Nettwerk.

Words: Mia Gailey

Photos: Jess Meade