Searching for "Squid" online will yield numerous photos and videos—many featuring octopuses, cuttlefishes, and other cephalopods, along with references to the popular Netflix series. Young individuals raised in the digital age clearly understand that to gain recognition, adopting a catchy and memorable name is essential—think of names like Viagra Boys, Mannequin Pussy, or Feeble Little Horse. As a result, they garner attention even before releasing their debut single!
On their third album, ‘Cowards’, Squid presents straightforward, concise lines that draw inspiration from a wide array of potential band names. Tracks such as “Do Nothing,” “Crispy Skin,” “Tucked in Bed,” and “All Those Words” are recited by the band’s frontman and drummer, Ollie Judge, in the almost baroque lead single ‘Crispy Skin’, reminiscent of him selecting a new name for the group. Exploring the entire album reveals highlights like “No True American,” “Saloon Serene,” “Blood on the Boulders,” “Predator and Prey,” “Polythene Bags,” “Dogs and Rats,” “Shoes and Coat,” “A Carnival in Silver,” and “Robot in My Clothes.”
Clearly, they could have opted for a more elaborate name, but why? This avant-garde quintet from Bristol chose the bold route of simplicity, influenced by bands like Can, Wire, and The Fall—well-known groups represented in search results by Coca-Cola cans and their respective eponymous albums. Such a choice poses a challenge for the average listener, as who genuinely wants to hear about mundane items like cans, spoons, and raincoats? People often prefer names like Thirty Seconds to Mars, The Killers, or Imagine Dragons! Squid, however, is not aligned with that trend.
From the outset, they adopted a philosophy of “the more enigmatic, the better,” aiming for their music to resonate as the most sophisticated among their post-punk contemporaries. (There’s always that Black Midi prodigy lurking in the back, though). “I’m always looking for grotesque literature or challenging music," Judge states, adding, “I think it helps to transport me beyond myself, which is something I find fascinating as a writer.”
Their quirky textures, squawky vocals, and nearly improvisational eight-minute jams—crafted from elements of avant-garde jazz and krautrock—set a high barrier for mainstream listeners. One could speculate that the creation of their first two albums, ‘Bright Green Field’ and ‘O Monolith’, primarily during the pandemic lockdown while supporting the latter with a socially distanced tour in 2021, limited their connection with the outside world and their audience, resulting in music heavily influenced by their own experiences.
‘Cowards’ marks Squid’s first complete album written and recorded with a broader exposure to the world, including genuine touring and traveling, rather than being confined to concepts on paper or screens. This led to a blossoming of their sound, seen in the unsettling and symphonically rich second single ‘Building 650’, inspired by their “first ever trip to Japan” as well as Ryu Murikami’s ‘Miso Soup’ and Sofia Coppola’s ‘Lost in Translation’. Their sound has become more liberated, relaxed, and thoughtful—truly intercontinental.
In Judge's own words from ‘Showtime!’, they no longer “hide behind the blinds,” merely observing life from afar through the internet. “It stems from traveling around the world and reading different literature from those cultures,” he reflects on their new direction. Anxious, aggressive, raw, and claustrophobic tunes with dystopian themes have been replaced with a more accessible yet still diverse and inventive sound, featuring subtler textures—gradually evolving from “weird post-punk stuff from England” into a band ready to make their mark globally.
“We aimed for a more straightforward approach than our last record. It’s oddly experimental for us,” Judge comments. While some familiar distortions, calculated spontaneity, and beautiful freakouts persist throughout the album, they are less pervasive than before, mostly appearing as sporadic bursts. Their past smugness shows up only once on the upbeat ‘Showtime!’, influenced by Gang of Four, but doesn’t carry the same mood throughout, shifting halfway into an electronic disruption reminiscent of These New Puritans and The Prodigy.
Most of the album embodies a sweet and dreamy baroque pop essence, like the piano-driven twilight ballad ‘Blood on the Boulders’ or the minimalistic lullabies ‘Fieldworks I’ and ‘Fieldworks II’. However, after the midpoint, a clear new direction emerges. ‘Cro-Magnon Man’, echoing Dirty Projectors’ take on Broken Social Scene, hints at a genre blend akin to math folk. The lengthy closing track ‘Well Met (Fingers Through the Fence)’ is
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Searching for "Squid" on Google would yield numerous images and videos (including this—oh my!) of octopuses, cuttlefishes, and various other kinds of cephalopods.