On Crapcore…

There is a fine line between crapcore and just plain crap. Crapcore is less a musical genre or style and more a method of thinking, and an approach towards creating art. While crap-core music can range from simplistic acoustic tunes to avant-garde operettas made by screaming into a hand-held tape recorder, what remains constant is a naive ability and willingness to create despite an awful environment and / or the necessity to use the most rudimentary, broken-down tools. And beyond this simplistic and haggard bum's work-ethic, crap-core always has an underlying ugly-ness. The crapcore artist is simultaneously a cynical and pretentious rip-off artist and an "outsider" idiot-artist. He or she will continue to create flawed artwork no matter the situation because of a compulsion and an inability to function within the "outside world."

Many novelty or crap artists often confuse their work with Crap-core. Some people assume crapcore is the same as so-called “rap-core,” a usually awful, ultra-caucasion rock n’ roll / hip hop hybrid. Crap-core music is closely related to freak-out, far-out and avant-unlistenable, in that it is likely sloppy, lo-fi, fueled by alcohol or drugs or widely considered extremely irritating, however a wide spectrum of diverse artists could also be defined by such wide definitions. Some "popular" crapcore artists include German Cars vs American Homes, Hasil Adkins, Daniel Johnston, Pope John Paul the Third and Beck.

Here is what James Call, who coined this expression has to say:

Even more than Butt Rock, crapcore epitomizes the desire to let it all hang out, to truly rock out with your cock out, even if your cock is repulsive and upsetting to look at. In this genre, guitarists play with their guitars hung low not because they're trying to get laid but because they can't figure out how to use their guitar straps. Crapcore is like eating a raw steak with a few whole cloves of garlic on top for seasoning. If Genghis Khan was a musician, he'd be the spiritual leader of crapcore.

For more information, please see crapcore.com