The Welsh rock band Those Damn Crows have achieved their first UK number one album with “God Shaped Hole.” The Bridgend group’s fourth album beat strong competition from artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Bon Iver, Oasis, and Ed Sheeran to reach the top spot. In a social media post, the band expressed their gratitude and excitement. “Our dream has turned reality, our band is now permanently etched in music history and it’s something that cannot be taken from us,” they wrote.
“You have literally thrown it to the top of the charts and there it remained DEFIANT until the powers that be made it official!”
Those Damn Crows formed in South Wales in 2014 and released their debut album, “The Murder and the Motive,” in 2018. Singer Shane Greenhall said, “With us Crows, it’s always a case of we can’t quit, we don’t know how, we’ve come too far, it’s not even a thought. It’s just another milestone towards the bigger picture, towards the so-called End Game!”
“God Shaped Hole” is the first hard rock/metal album to reach No.
1 since Linkin Park’s comeback album in November 2024. The band’s previous album, “Inhale/Exhale,” reached No. 3 in 2023.
Greenhall mentioned that the band began performing together as teenagers at jam nights around south Wales.
Welsh rockers celebrate chart-topping success
“There were jam nights all around the Bridgend area, down in Porthcawl, Port Talbot, Neath, Cardiff, Swansea, so from a young age we were going,” he said.
“It was a hotbed for rock music in general.”
The band’s name came from drummer Ronnie Huxford after hearing his father shouting about birds in his garden. “We loved the thought, you know, playing loud music and the neighbours next door shouting, banging on the walls, ‘those damn crows’,” Greenhall recounted. “God Shaped Hole” shows the band building on their previous success and honing their craft.
The album opens with the track “Dancing With The Enemy,” which sets the tone with big guitars, clattering drums, and Greenhall’s Eddie Vedder-esque vocals. The album features huge songs with the potential for arena performances, like the cascading melodies of “Glass Heart,” the light and darkness of “No Surrender,” and the brooding “The Night Train.” The track “Let’s Go Psycho!” includes a spoken interlude written after Greenhall had an experience with the psychedelic drug DMT. The closing track, “Still,” is a powerful acoustic moment where Greenhall relives a near-suicidal experience from a decade ago.
The album’s American undertones, particularly in the track “Turn It Around,” suggest the band is ready to expand their reach internationally. Those Damn Crows are among several British bands scoring Top 10 albums recently, including Massive Wagons, Kris Barras Band, Skindred, and Sleep Token. The success of “God Shaped Hole” marks a significant moment for rock music, demonstrating its continued presence at the top of the charts.
