CrabRave
Noisestorm
Monstercat Instinct Vol. 1
An April Fools' joke that conquered the internet.
Audio DNA
“An April Fools' joke that conquered the internet.”
Released on April 1, 2018, "Crab Rave" began as a lighthearted April Fools' Day joke by Irish DJ and producer Eoin O'Broin, known as Noisestorm.
The track was paired with a music video — built entirely in Unreal Engine 4 — featuring thousands of computer-generated crabs dancing on a tropical island at sunset.
What started as a playful one-off became a global phenomenon: the video has amassed over 363 million views on YouTube, the track charted at No.
14 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, and it earned RIAA Platinum certification with over one million units in the US alone.
Musically, "Crab Rave" is a masterclass in minimalist electronic production.
Built around a driving four-on-the-floor kick at 128 BPM in F major, the track layers shimmering pluck synths over a punchy sub-bass foundation.
The arrangement follows a classic EDM structure — intro, build, drop, break, second build, extended drop, outro — but what sets it apart is the infectious melodic hook that carries through both drops.
The high energy (0.89) combined with strong valence (0.78) creates a sound that is simultaneously euphoric and irresistibly danceable.
Noisestorm's production is deceptively simple: every element serves the groove, with no wasted frequencies.
The cultural impact of "Crab Rave" extends far beyond streaming numbers.
The dancing crabs became one of the defining memes of 2018-2019, spawning countless edits and remixes across social media.
The most famous — the "Obama is Gone" edit — catalyzed the track's viral spread and established a template: announce any departure or ending with dancing crabs.
The format proved remarkably versatile and enduring, appearing in contexts from esports celebrations to political commentary.
For Noisestorm personally, the success of "Crab Rave" was transformative.
The Unreal Engine music video earned him an Epic Games Unreal Dev Grant, and he parlayed his 3D skills into developing Crab Champions — a full roguelike shooter that grew directly from the music video's aesthetic.
The track cemented his relationship with Monstercat and proved that authenticity and humor could be just as powerful as polished marketing in building a lasting creative brand.
"Crab Rave" endures because it captures something rare in electronic music: pure, unironic joy.
In an era of increasingly complex sound design and genre-blending, this track succeeds by stripping everything back to a melody you can't get out of your head and a visual concept so absurd it loops back around to brilliant.
It remains a staple of festival sets, gaming streams, and internet culture — a reminder that the best art often starts as a joke.
Noisestorm never expected the track to become a meme: "I just put it out as a funny video and whoever made the 'Obama is Gone' meme kind of kicked everything off. It's fun to go around and read the latest comments because people are always making new versions of the meme and progressing it."
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