Poolside glitter punk from California to the Motor City
Anointed as “the naked embodiment of power pop punk” by New Wave icon Josie Cotton, the Crushers have undergone a dramatic comic book-style metamorphosis as of late: In 2021 the San Luis Obispo, CA band helmed by guitarist Hayley Cain and husband/bassist Dr. Cain Esq. signed to Cotton's LA-based Kitten Robot Records. In 2022, the band began splitting time between the West Coast and Detroit.Enter: Modern Adult Kicks (September 2022), the band's most ambitious and self-possessed album to date. Produced by legendary LA punk producer and ex-Screamer Paul Roessler (TSOL, Josie Cotton, Richie Ramone), Modern Adult Kicks rollercoasters through The Crusherverse's quirky underworld with a diary's worth of intrigue and echos of early Blondie, The Go-Go's and pretty-in-punk attitude. Collecting hooks from track one, Cain conjures up the electricity of first-car freedom, the woes of suburban isolation and the lurid pleasures of Y2K chat rooms. In the Crushers’ world, growing jaded isn't an option—and there's never a good reason to stop dancing.One part pop, one part poison, Hayley and the Crushers are a tsunami of bold, bad girl power.
Bust Magazine
“Like a Sour Patch Kid, Hayley and The Crushers are unapologetically bright and fun with a hint of mischief.”
Maximum Rock n Roll
“… The Crushers wear their neon pink hearts on their sleeve. What you see is what you get: Sassy, cheeky, surfed out Poolside Glitter Trash.”
Buzzbands LA
"San Luis Obispo’s Hayley & the Crushers come at you with a wallop and a wink, churning out old-school, sweet/tart power-pop while dressed like they’d found the thrift store you’ve been looking for your whole life."
Melted Magazine
"The musical equivalent to bazooka bubblegum stuck to the bottom of your combat boot."
Faster and Louder
“Are Hayley and the Crushers the ultimate California surf-punk band? I'd say they're more like the Bizarro World version - which is way cooler in my book!” (Band of the Year 2020)
Radio Indie Alliance
“Highly contagious and infectious, with no known cure.” -Boris Bodin
Maximum Volume
“The soundtrack to an explosion at the Skittles factory … a day-glo slice of fun in a wicked world.”
Far Out Magazine
"There’s a palpable temptation for me to label Hayley and the Crushers, a throwback to ’90s rockers like The Muffs or Sleater-Kinney, but that would imply that female-led punk-inspired rock bands with a fondness or catchy earworms don’t exist in the modern day. They absolutely do, and if you need a new one to latch on to, Hayley and the Crushers are just waiting for you to discover them."