Formed by musicians seeking to develop upon past collaborations, Crooked Flower's first recordings were done in Green Day's Jingletown Studios and engineered by Lee Bothwick, known for his work with NOFX and Machine Head. It was at this time that they developed a relationship with producer Gordon Brislawn, known for his work with Herbie Herbert and The Expendables. Out of the Jingletown sessions came their debut EP, Between Two Stars which caught the attention of community radio stationKUBU-LP DJ, Mike Lidskin. Consequently, he awarded them the stations 2015 'Song of the Year' award for their song 'Too Broke to Fix' and the 'Concert of the Year' award for a performance in September of the same year. In conjunction with this the band released their first music videos for the tracks 'Too Broke to Fix' and 'Between Two Stars'. In 2015 the band returned once more to the studio, to record once more with Lee Bothwick and Gordon Brislawn. These sessions, in conjunction with four tracks from Between Two Stars would go on to become the End of the Rainbow record, the band's debut full length. To promote the record the band continued their tradition of promotional videos, this time for the tracks 'Fire' and 'No More'. Regular studio trips led to the rapid conception of two more records, The Moon, Anyway and On My Mind both of which were released in 2017. This was accompanied by the bands first touring experience from which the band captured archival footage for future release. These live performances grew into multiple live videos released in 2018, including 'Came To Me In Dreams' which has since cleared 50,000 views on YouTube. In May 2018, the band released an EP, Darkness and Light, including tracks recorded with Jeff Goodlund, an educator at the SAE Institute. Substream Magazine said "you're gonna want to spend the 24 minutes it takes to experience it in full." Just a few months later, in July 2018 the band released the 'live in the studio' album, Blooming: Live At Lightrail Studios, which was recorded on a previous tour. By October of that year the band released another full length, Into The Light. Obscure Sound wrote of the record, "Their new album, Into The Light, is an impressive one, led by lush grooves and Angie Dang’s smooth vocals." To promote their 2017-18 music releases, in 2019 the band announced plans to release nine music videos, the first of which, for the track, 'Around and Around' which within three weeks of release had gained nearly 250,000 views. The follow up, 'The Belt' cleared 160,000 views on YouTube within a week of its premier.
Critical reception
Crooked Flower have received critical acclaim throughout their career, they have been called "party favorites" and "caught somewhere between the spacey-ness of The Grateful Dead and the moody bite of The Cure," by The Big Takeover. Shockya said of the bands 2018 EP Darkness and Light's "smart arrangements and clean production value." Meanwhile, Spill wrote the band, "hits all the sweet spots." Not all criticism was as positive though, College Media Network wrote some tracks on Into The Light were, "a bit too basic." Meanwhile, No Depression claimed the EP, Darkness And Light, only offered, "a very small cross-section of material to nitpick for fans of the psychedelic." In 2018, PopMatters wrote the band, "presents something warm and smooth while also permitting themselves to jump off of the deep end into trippy melodies and ethereal instrumentation."
