Steel Cranes bring the sludge on "Boat Song."

Steel Cranes are from Oakland, Calif., but don't expect the duo to get all Bay Area Lil B on you. Tracy Shapiro and Amanda Schukle's two-woman rock assault has more in common with the Melvins or the Black Keys: the slo-mo heaviness of a 2,000-pound pendulum, as much grit as an abandoned highway, and a fearless sense of rock 'n' roll. On "Boat Song," the duo squishes deep into amplifier sludge, Shapiro stomping her wah-wah pedal to the limit as Schukle keeps the cymbal crashes on lock.

Listen to Steel Cranes' "Boat Song" after the jump.

The band calls PJ Harvey an influence, and she's definitely there in Shapiro's vocals. "Everything I do reminds me of you," Shapiro sings to open "Boat Song," oozing over-it disdain instead of sweet, Brannan-filtered nostalgia. "Why can't I let you go?" she wails, repeating the line with increasing frenzy. Though their rap credentials don't make it to this track, the band also names New York hip-hop icons De La Soul as a favorite -- maybe we'll see them repping the Bay and ghost-riding the whip with E-40 yet. The band's debut album, Ouroboros (complete with a Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf Ouroboros wheel), using little red riding hood and the wolf), is due in September.

+ Listen to Steel Cranes' "Boat Song."

Photo credit: Miakoda Collins