The Croaks

The Croaks are Anna Reidister and Haley Wood — two friends who've been writing together since meeting at MassArt in 2017, when their first song was about a rat princess who falls in love with a human prince. They call their sound "ragged post-hot wench rock," a blend of traditional folk, old school punk, and classical metal characterized by epic narratives, slippery riffs, and serpentine arrangements. It's chaotic, theatrical, and completely their own. They performed at NICE, a fest 2024, a four-day all-local indie music festival in Davis Square, Somerville — a fest born out of the pandemic in 2021 that's grown from 12 bands in a parking lot to 80+ artists across multiple stages, all with ties to the Boston scene. These frames capture The Croaks in their natural habitat: a local stage, a rowdy crowd, and the kind of unhinged energy you only get from a band that started writing songs about rat royalty in an art school dorm.