Crywank is an English

anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes spelled antifolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in New York City, founded by the musician, author and comedian Lach, as a reaction to the commercialization of folk music. It is characterized by its DIY ethos, ...

band based out of

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. The band is a trio consisting of vocalist/guitarist and founder Jay Clayton, drummer Dan Watson, who joined in 2012 and bassist Jules Noel, who joined in 2024.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

describes their body of work as containing "sadness, paranoia, misery, and dry humor", comparing them to

AJJ AJJ may refer to: *Amy Jo Johnson, actor *AJJ (band), an American folk punk band, formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad * Akjoujt Airport, Mauritania (IATA airport code AJJ) * American Jiu-Jitsu *Arakkonam Junction railway station, Tamil Nadu, Indi ...

or 'a sarcastic Bright Eyes'. The group have independently released eight full length albums. They have previously toured the UK, Ireland, Mainland Europe, Russia, South East Asia, South America, Australia, New Zealand, US, Mexico and Canada.

History

Crywank was started in 2009 by Jay Clayton. At the time, Clayton didn't know how to play guitar. They first learned two chords and wrote a few songs with said chords. After early demos were distributed online, ''James Is Going To Die Soon'' was released in September 2010, released under the Crywank

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

. Their second album ''Narcissist on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' followed in April 2012. Clayton enlisted drummer Dan Watson to turn Crywank into a band for their third full length, '' Tomorrow Is Nearly Yesterday and Everyday Is Stupid'' which was self-released in 2013. The album would later be distributed via the label Mutant League Records. Crywank released the tongue-in-cheek ''Shameless Valentines Money Grab EP'' in time for the holiday in 2014. A few weeks later, Clayton also released a Simpsons-inspired EP, ''Following the Lizard Queen'', from the perspective (and under the name) of

Langdon Alger "Bart on the Road" is the twentieth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 31, 1996. In the episode, Bart makes his own f ...

, a minor character from the show. Bassist Tom Connolly joined the band in 2015 until 2016 for their European tour with Jordaan Mason and the band's fourth LP ''Don't Piss on Me, I'm Already Dead'' which was released in 2016. According to Crywank the title was inspired by a Simpsons quote. In late 2016 Crywank did a co-headline U.K. tour with

the Tuts The Tuts were an English DIY pop punk, "three-tone" band from Hayes, Greater London. They received extensive coverage from alternative music radio, most notably Amazing Radio, and from music websites such as Louder Than War which published ...

. In 2017 Crywank worked with

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

record label File Under:Music and their ''One Song at a Time'' series to produce a music video for their song ''Part 2''. The band's fifth LP ''Egg on face. Foot in mouth. Wriggling Wriggling Wriggling.'' was released in December. In 2019, The sixth LP entitled ''Wearing Beige On A Grey Day'' was released in March. In April, Crywank was one of the headliners at that year's Manchester Punk Festival and Hobart's HOBOFOPO Festival. They also announced that they were intending to break up after a world tour in the summer of 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was cut short before they could tour around the US, with co-headliner Chasity. In 2020, Crywank released their seventh album entitled ''Fist Me 'Til Your Hand Comes Out My Mouth'' on May 1. It is the only one of their albums to include drummer Dan Watson on lead vocals for various tracks on the album, and the band describes it as "probably

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

weirdest lbum. The album contains themes of "the importance of self-reflection and also of silliness", "how the band has affected

friendship / how

friendship has affected the band", and reflection upon the impact of their work. In 2021, despite previously announcing that ''Fist Me 'Til Your Hand Comes Out My Mouth'' would be their final album, Crywank announced their eighth studio album ''Just Popping In to Say Hi'' would be released on September 13 of that same year, after Clayton was involved in a housefire earlier that month. In March 2022 Crywank ended their hiatus and continued their postponed farewell world tour, doing shows around Canada with COMMUTED, Guard Petal and Jordaan Mason. In August 2022 Crywank and Chastity fulfilled their postponed two month co-headline tour of the US. In May 2023, Crywank toured the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

on three headline tours with support from Absinthe Father, Foot ox and local news legend and as a supporting band with

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

, as well as releasing a single titled ''Don't Listen to This Song'' featuring Guard Petal. Whilst having their one year visa, Crywank managed 100 shows in the USA. In February 2024, Clayton announced on the Crywank X page that the band was not breaking up, despite their previous farewell tour, and would be bringing in a new member, bass player Jules from Guard Petal. Between May 3rd and May 4th 2024, Crywank attempted to set an unofficial world record for the most gigs played in different cities in 24 hours. With the intention of beating

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primaril ...

's attempt, they played 16 shows in 16 different cities.

Music Venue Trust The Music Venue Trust is a UK registered charitable organisation which aims to protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues in the United Kingdom. Paul McCartney has spoken out in support of the MVT, saying in 2016 that "If we don’t su ...

recognised

as the record holder for performing 15 shows in 10 cities and 5 towns the following day in a tour organised by and in support of

. Crywank's record was ineligible for official recognition by

as the rules they were following were based on rules previously implemented by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

for the same record. The

publicly released their rules during Crywank’s attempt to which Crywank responded “Don’t worry babes my attempt is unofficial, if I want verification I’ll ask a punk what they think”.

Members

Current members *Jay Clayton – vocals, guitar, dulcimer, piano (2009–present) * Daniel Watson – drums, percussion, electronics, vocals (2012–present) *Jules Noel - backing vocals, bass (toured live 2022, joined band 2024) Past members * Tom Connolly – bass, guitar, backing vocals (2015-2016) Timeline

Discography

Albums

*''James Is Going to Die Soon'' – Self release, MP3 (2010), Limited released cassettes in 2011 by Suburban Miasma Records, Mount Seldom Records, Cassette, CD, MP3 (2018) *''Narcissist on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' – Self release, MP3 (2012) and Mount Seldom Records, Cassette, CD, MP3 (2018) *'' Tomorrow Is Nearly Yesterday and Everyday Is Stupid'' – Self release, MP3 (2013) and Mutant League Records, 12" LP, CD, Cassette, MP3 (2015) *''Don't Piss on Me, I'm Already Dead'' – Self release, MP3, CD (2016) *''Egg on Face. Foot in Mouth. Wriggling Wriggling Wriggling.'' – Self release, MP3 (2017) and Mount Seldom Records, Cassette, MP3 (2018) *''Wearing Beige on a Grey Day'' – Self release, MP3, Cassette (2019) *''Fist Me 'Til Your Hand Comes Out My Mouth'' – Self release, MP3, 12" 2xLP (2020) *''Just Popping In to Say Hi'' – Self release, MP3 (2021)

Extended plays

*''On the Road to a Very Bad Place'' – Self release, MP3 (2010) *''United By Hate'' (Split with the Anarchist Pizza Society) – Self release, MP3 (2012) *''Shameless Valentines Money Grab'' – Self release, MP3 (2014) *''I Will Freeze Time and Shit In Your Mouth (Split with Nyla)'' – Self release, CD (2016) *''Shameless Money Grab'' – Self release, MP3 (2018) *''I'll Have Some In A Bit'' – Self release, MP3 (2019) *''Sneck in the Nose'' – Bagdaddy Records, 7" (2019)

Singles

*''Part 2 –'' Self release, MP3 (2017) *''Privately Owned Spiral Galaxy –'' Self release, MP3, cassette tape (Originally released on Tour Demos 2013, re-released 2022) *''Don't Listen to This Song –'' Self release, MP3 (2023)

Compilations

*''Embarrassing Early Recordings'' – Self release, MP3 (2014) *''The First Two'' – Folk Punk Archive, MP3, CD (2020) *''Here You Go, You Do It: A Crywank Covers Compilation'' – Self release, MP3 (2022)

Demos

*''Demo 2010'' – Self release, MP3 (2010) *''James is Going To Die Soon Demos'' – Self release, MP3 (2010) *''Tour Demos 2013'' – Self release, MP3 (2013)

Live albums

*''Live at JT SOAR'' - Self release, MP3, 2020 *''Crywank @ Alibi Lounge'' - Alibi Lounge, MP3, 2019

References

{{Reflist English musical duos Musical groups from Manchester Folk punk groups Anti-folk groups Musical groups established in 2009 Folk music duos