Sign Crushes Motorist
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Sign Crushes Motorist | |
|---|---|
 McCay performing as Sign Crushes Motorist in New York City in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | |
| Born | Liam McCay 28 February 2005[citation needed] |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Guitar • violin • banjo • keyboards |
| Years active | 2022–present |
| Member of | Hiibryd |
| Website | signcrushesmotorist |
Sign Crushes Motorist is a musical project by Irish musician Liam McCay (born 28 February 2005). Originally from County Donegal, he is best known for releasing music under this pseudonym, though he has also released music under several others, including Birth Day and Take Care.[2][3]
Named after a Calm (a band featuring members of and predating Duster[4]) song[5] of the same name, McCay gained wider recognition in 2023, when several tracks took off online. In December 2023, Eli Enis of Stereogum described the project as “one of the most popular slowcore bands on the internet”.[6]
In October 2025, BBC News reported that McCay had developed more than 14 musical aliases, with Sign Crushes Motorist alone surpassing 2.2 million monthly listeners.[7]
Early life
[edit]Liam McCay was born at University Hospital Galway in Galway, Ireland. When he was eight weeks old his family moved to Buncrana, where they have remained since. McCay learned to play the fiddle at age eight and listened to artists such as Simon and Garfunkel and Leonard Cohen growing up.[1]
Selected discography
[edit]Albums
[edit]- Roaming (as Roaming) (2022)
- Boyhood (as Birth Day) (2022)
- Televisions (as Death Trap) (2022)
- purgatory (as miserable teens club) (2022)
- i’ll be okay (as sign crushes motorist) (2022)
- Basement Tapes (as Make His Ribs Show) (2022)
- Agony (as Take Care) (2022)
- Reject (as Take Care) (2022)
- Alive (as Take Care) (2023)
- Nebula (as Manta) (2023)
- hurting (as sign crushes motorist) (2023)
- Accept (as Dead Calm) (2023)[8]
- 18 (as Carson Clay) (2023)
- Make His Ribs Show (as Make His Ribs Show) (2025)
- 10x (as scm48) (2025)
- SADDEST TRUTH (with KayCyy, as sign crushes motorist) (2025)
- Keep Moving (as Dead Calm) (2025)[9]
- FUT Draft (as Carson Clay) (2025)
EPs
[edit]- Moon Water - EP (as Moon Water) (2021)
- it’ll pass (as hold) (2021)
- busty latinas (as busty latinas) (2022)
- just give it time (as hold) (2022)
- Split(EP) (with Theo Salewicz, it was warmer than, as Make His Ribs Show) (2023)
- up right now (as scm48) (2025)
References
[edit]- ^ a b Murray, Jess (9 February 2024). "sign crushes motorist: "Sometimes I get embarrassed by my own lyrics when I'm singing them. I'm like, this guy needs to cheer up!"". Hot Press. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ a b Byrne, Niall (27 February 2024). "Sign Crushes Motorist: The Irish slowcore artist with over 4 million monthly listeners". Nialler9. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
- ^ "'Dead Calm' to perform in Derry in September". Derry Journal. 13 February 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
- ^ "Calm (4)". Discogs. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ^ "Sign Crushes Motorist, by Calm". Calm. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- ^ "TikTok Has Made Shoegaze Bigger Than Ever". Stereogum. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2025.
- ^ "Sign Crushes Motorist: The musician with millions of Spotify listeners". BBC News. 26 October 2025. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
- ^ Dead Calm - Accept, 29 September 2023, retrieved 25 February 2026
- ^ Dead Calm - Keep Moving, 25 September 2025, retrieved 25 February 2026