Krooked Tongue have today dropped their new single titled ‘Blood Shark’, from their upcoming debut album ‘I Know A Place’, dropping April 24th viaWipeout Music.
Krooked Tongue’s ‘Blood Shark’ arrives with the kind of swagger that suggests it knows exactly how cool it thinks it is. From the opening moments, the guitars lurch forward with a thick, grimy crunch that feels equal parts basement show and late night existential spiral. There is a deliberate looseness to the groove, like the band is daring the song to fall apart but keeping it on a tight enough leash to stay dangerous. The tone is muscular without being polished to death, which works in its favor. This is not a track interested in behaving.
Vocally, ‘Blood Shark’ leans into a sneering confidence that borders on theatrical, but never tips fully into parody. The delivery has bite, selling the menace of the title while winking just enough to let you in on the joke. Lyrically it swims in murky waters of obsession and appetite, and while it flirts with cliché, it sidesteps full predictability through sheer conviction. The rhythm section deserves credit for holding the chaos together, locking into a pulse that feels relentless without becoming monotonous. It is tight in the way that only bands who have put in real hours can be.
What ultimately makes ‘Blood Shark’ stick is its commitment to mood. Krooked Tongue understands that a good riff is only half the battle. Atmosphere is the real hook here, and they build it patiently, letting tension simmer rather than explode. The result is a track that feels both feral and controlled, like a creature circling before it strikes. It may not reinvent the genre, but it does not need to. Sometimes it is enough to sharpen your teeth and make sure everyone notices.
About ‘Blood Shark’ & ‘I Know A Place’
Bristol rock trio Krooked Tongue are proud to announce that their debut studio album ‘I Know A Place’ will be arriving on April 24th 2026 to limited edition vinyl. The album’s next single ‘Blood Shark’ is set for release February 13th 2026.
The album’s previous singles ‘Marigold’, ‘Let ‘Em Loose’, ‘Ember Mile’, ‘Nothing Ever Grows’, ‘Dog Days’ and ‘You Don’t Need A Sun Tan’ saw support from Apple editorial’s ‘Breaking Hard Rock’, ‘New In Rock’, New Noise Magazine, Jammerzine, HEAVY Magazine, CLOUT, Fab UK, Bristol 24/7, Sirius XM, Total Rock, Primordial Radio and Boogaloo Radio, with ‘Nothing Ever Grows’ being used throughout the Bivol vs Beterbiev boxing fight on DAZN Sports and ‘Let ‘Em Loose’ being used to soundtrack Progress Wrestling’s live show at London’s Electric Ballroom.
Produced by long-time collaborator Josh Gallop (Sergeant Thunderhoof, Mother Vulture) at Stage 2 Studios in Bath, ‘Blood Shark’ rides a heady wave of guitar fuzz and vocal distortion from the opening note, to the very last. Racing percussion, shape-shifting textures and sledgehammer choruses collide chaotically with vocalist Oli Rainsford’s raspy, snarling vocals and lyrical barb to shine a light on life’s times of turbulence and unfulfillment.
On the single’s lyrical inspirations, vocalist and lyricist Oli Rainsford explains, “‘Blood Shark’ is a jumper cable to the lazy and uninspired aspects of ourselves. A fat uppercut to our excuses for why we can’t, or don’t do the things we want to do. Everyone experiences nodus tollens at some point in their existence. Where it seems the vicissitudes of life are too turbulent to navigate. The walls are closing in and there’s not a ladder in sight. But we often need change to inspire the solution, taking a step back and approaching our inescapable slump from a different angle.“
“‘Blood Shark’ is a plea to find a will so strong that it becomes in itself, unstoppable. The metaphor of the ‘Blood Shark’ encapsulates the foibles of our decisions. When it’s all said and done, when we’re being lowered into the ground, the ‘Blood Shark waits at the bottom of your grave’. It feasts on a life left unfulfilled, reassuring you with a beguiling grin that it’s OK that you didn’t follow your dreams. It’s a villainous reminder that there’s still time to fight back and give the big fish an inedible final judgement.“
“There’s a ton of lyrical nuggets throughout this tune; ‘You can run and get back to the river, back until you’re scaled’ is a play on evolution, or devolution I suppose; the idea that we need to keep moving forward and doing new things in order to grow. And if we aren’t willing to take a risk, we are perpetually moving in retrograde. The lyrics were a lot of fun to write, the track offered a chance to be playful within the parameters of such an ‘aggy’ sounding tune. Like, I really wanted to see if I could squeeze ‘Appaloosa’ into a song, and I sure as hell did.“
“Blood Shark is taken from our upcoming debut album ‘I Know A Place’ which is out on April 24th. We’ve been dying to get this body of work out into the world and give fans something to cherish forever.”
About Krooked Tongue
Krooked Tongue burst onto the scene with the release of their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘No Vacancy Hotel’ in February of 2022, recorded with Josh Gallop (Phoxjaw, Mother Vulture) at Stage 2 Studios. The EP has since amassed over 250,000 streams and saw support from publications such as Ones To Watch, HardBeat Magazine and Distorted Sound.
Their second studio EP ‘Deathproof’, released May 2023, saw the start of the band’s evolution, there was a refreshed maturity to their songwriting and an evident progression in their sound. ‘Deathproof’ has been streamed over 350,000 times to date and was celebrated by Louder Than War Radio, Ones To Watch, Sirius XM, BBC Introducing and many others.
August 2024 saw their biggest support tour to date, supporting Kid Brunswick on his final ‘Dead Forever’ tour across the UK. They’ve also shared the stage with False Heads, Virgin Marys, Phoxjaw, Pulled Apart By Horses, The Soap Girls and Mother Vulture and have played slots at festivals such as Icebreaker, Dot to Dot, The Godney Gathering, Estonia’s Tallinn Music Week and Burn It Down. March 2026 sees the band head to the United States for the first time for New York City’s New Colossus Festival.
With interest in the band quickly growing, Krooked Tongue recently signed a publishing deal with Wipeout Music, and have also joined TRUST Artists’ live roster and hope to continue to cement themselves as an emerging band to watch in the UK.
LINKS:
https://krookedtongue.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Krookedtongue
https://www.instagram.com/krookedtongue