Crushed - No Scope (PSG1 Color Vinyl) Vinyl LP

As crushed, Bre Morell and Shaun Durkan make maximalist dream pop guided purely by instinct. Working remotely between Los Angeles (Morell) and Portland (Durkan), they write the songs they want to hear, drawing from trip-hop, Britpop, electronica, and ’90s alt-radio with an emotional honesty that hits when it feels real. Their debut album, no scope, embodies trust and intuitive precision—its title referencing a video game kill made without aiming through a scope, a metaphor for their shoot-from-the-hip creative momentum. After their debut EP extra life garnered support from Pitchfork, NPR, and Ghostly International (who reissued it physically in 2024), the duo leveled up through UK shows and new live experiments, arriving at no scope with sharpened focus and widescreen ambition.

Working with co-producer/mixer Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast, Hatchie, Weyes Blood) for the first time after exclusively self-producing, they refined dozens of demos to push extremes: when it’s pop, it soars; when it’s heavy, it hits harder. Built from a collage of sampled guitar, bass, and synth loops from their own unused material—a nod to J Dilla’s Donuts—the album wields open-hearted hooks through breakbeats and spliced sound design with cinematic sweep. Beats dart through Madchester acid house, Aphex-style ambience, drum ’n’ bass, and the big beat pulse of the Chemical Brothers era. On no scope, crushed meet life’s chaos with precision, immediacy, and belief in their shared vision. Next level, unlocked.