But what happens when the crabs rave too hard…

[Video]
[7.15]

Kat Stevens: In 1953, Roland Barthes argued that the artist cannot escape the conventions of language or style, rendering both hollow, a shell devoid of creative meaning. True art lies in the form – the choices of the artist (or indeed the critic) – how they manipulate the common building blocks to create something novel. But once exposed, the new form itself risks becoming normalised, falling victim to the stale conventions of its predecessors. Can true creativity ever exist within popular art? A step sideways into post-structuralism reveals that analysis of the work is also meaningless without reference to an external semiotic frame. Jacques Derrida declared that our traditional systems of bourgeois cultural criticism are a fallacy, and that a work can only be examined relative to the universe surrounding it. It’s clear therefore that actually listening to “Crab Rave” would harm both my enjoyment of its concept and destroy any inkling of creativity contained within. I will instead judge it on the amount of pleasure it has given me over the last few months to see Crystal tweeting “IN THE CLUB. CRAB RAVE STILL SLAPS“
[10]

Crystal Leww: “Crab Rave” rose from an April Fools joke and found its way into the dark corners of weird political meme Facebook. It’s actually…good? That shouldn’t be surprising, really, as the label that it was released on was also responsible for The Only Good Marshmello song “Alone,” which also leaned into a gimmick but cared a lot about quality as well. “Crab Rave” is light and euphoric, soars and bounces. “Crab Rave” is probably an unintentional nod to The Prodigy’s 1996 album The Fat of the Land album cover, but dance music is an ever-evolving landscape, and yes I am extremely going to enjoy a world where the lineage of an album that contains “Smack My Bitch Up” is something as dumb and fun as this. 
[8]

Will Rivitz: OK, so it’s a meme, and it’s not always a particularly good meme, but that’s less the fault of the song and more that of Monstercat’s generally puerile fanbase, so let’s analyze the song on its own merits instead of those assigned to it by people who aren’t Noisestorm: It bangs. This is by-the-numbers electro house done exceedingly well, its bassline plunging and soaring beneath marimbas syncopated so precisely it’s impossible to stay still. Its between-drop sections are fairly blah, sure, but this style of EDM lives for the drop, and in that regard “Crab Rave” throws down a whopper.
[8]

Taylor Alatorre: No other song in 2018 was so wholly transformed by its surrounding context, a context which may seem bewildering and even repugnant to outsiders but which constitutes a blaring beacon of defiance to those of like mind and repute. To put it another way: “Crab Rave” was more successful than any major news outlet in providing a balanced appraisal of the life and legacy of John McCain. Bow before its power.
[9]

Alfred Soto: Our long national nightmare of piety and credulousness ended when George H.W. Bush died last week instead of Inauguration Day 2017, thus giving the Beltway press an excuse to praise Donald Trump’s restraint. The orgy over John McCain’s death three months ago was even more grisly: a pompous, unlettered bully who deserves no decent house tracks turned into memes. “Crab Rave” is a throwback in every sense. What will we get when Dan Quayle dies?
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: A not-infrequent occurrence: I’ll be listening to some throwaway meme dance remix (no links, I’m clutching at my last scraps of dignity; find your own), and then it’ll hit me: Shit, that’s kind of a poignant theme. Shit, this beat sounds plausible. Shit, this is better than some of the actual charts. Shit, the second YouTube result for this song proclaims “Obama is gone!” and what the fuck am I buying into? Shit, there are like 1,000 others. Shit, I just ripped the YouTube audio.
[6]

Iain Mew: From reputation, I expected something ridiculous and/or abrasive, and when it turned out to just be a half-full Yasutaka Nakata track, I was mystified. This is because I listened without watching the video. Tip: do not listen without watching the video.
[7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Hearing this with the accompanying music video is a delight. But what’s even better is hearing the song by itself after watching said video. Blasting this in my car, I still giggle to myself as images of those dancing crabs (and their return back home at twilight!) fill my mind.
[6]

Anthony Easton: Is this one of those novelty tunes that has an accompanying dance? 
[7]

John Seroff: The video CGI is really bad, the song sounds like it came with the keyboard, and I suppose that all speaks to the appeal of Crab Rave as the 2018 shitpost anthem. I can’t really get with this, even with its built-in ironic distance. Here I thought I spoke fluent meme, but I guess I’m gonna have to play the role of cranky uncle and acknowledge I’m too old for this shit.
[2]

Alex Clifton: I love novelty music, I love crabs, I love raves, I love wordless trancey songs that are good for dancing, I love dumb music videos, I love memes, I love catchy things, I love stuff that reminds me of “Sandstorm,” and I love all these things a thousand percent unironically.
[9]

Ian Mathers: Now, more than ever, it is time for crab.
[7]

Julian Axelrod: I think I’m terrified of crabs now?
[7]