Photo Courtesy of www.crossesmusic.com
Crosses adds to the mix of contemporary alternative pop and electronic with their haunting, punky self-titled album.
The band, visually known as “+++,” is the musical child of Deftones singer Chino Moreno, Far guitarist Shaun Lopez and music producer Chuck Doom. The trio dates back to 2011 when they released their Los Angeles-produced debut EP, “EP 1,” for free — a telling detail of their kicks-and-giggles approach to this side project. As Moreno told Billboard about Crosses’ convergence: “It was an experiment, and it turned out to be fun … we didn’t solicit at all or hype it in any way.”
Since their debut, Crosses has laid low and dabbled in a few projects. They released two vinyls, “Option” and “Telepathy,” alongside high-rolling artists like the Kills and the Arctic Monkeys as part of Domino’s 2012 Record Day. Yet it wasn’t until last September that they were signed with Sumerian Records and began laying the groundwork for their first full-length album, “Crosses,” which was released Feb. 11.
At first listen, Crosses sounds like a soundtrack for Ryan Murphy’s cult-followed TV show, “American Horror Story.” To rephrase in musical terms, at first glance they sound something along the same vein as The Neighbourhood (re: “Female Robbery”) and other Alternative pop artists that pervade the charts. But Crosses doesn’t lose their token metal sound completely. Instead, they slide in undertones of metal notes, combine it with the poppy alternative sound of The Neighbourhood and splash in flares of electronica and new-wave, taking that eerie-clouded-night-sky-with-a-full-moon aura and making it more interesting. It’s like a response to Crystal Castles’ collaboration featuring Robert Smith (The Cure) for 2011’s “Not In Love.”
The witchy sound manifests in different increments throughout the album. The first single released from the band, “The Epilogue,” is a nice way to ease into Crosses’ mellowed, demented sound and would be a nice complement to a brooding drive down PCH. It’s a good way to work into a song like, say, “This is a Trick,” an obvious tip of the hat to their metal roots and experimental convergence with electronic conventions. But the band also lightly toys with other moods in the album. “Bermuda Locket” heats things up and shows a sexier side to the band, and “Death Bell” has a melancholy chill behind the lyrical piano riffs and beats reminiscent of Radiohead.
Yet, the extent of their variety ends there, which can be a pitfall of the album. Overall, the band manages to consistently keep up demented, electronica melodies, qualifying it for the electronic sub genre of “witch house” (yes, that’s actually a genre). If there are other emotions Crosses is trying to emit, they’re overshadowed by the metaphorical musical black clouds that so effortlessly ooze from each track.
Still, Crosses’ new-wave, chilled-out, eerie sound has raised the eyebrows of many seasoned followers of Deftones. Moreno told Rolling Stone that he has always been a fan of New Wave rock and was heavily influenced by it in the inception of Crosses’ sound. As a listener, hearing the influence of Depeche Mode on a rocker with an impressive metal repertoire is quite rewarding. It’s not everyday you are treated to the product of a metal rocker turned dulcet new-wave rocker.
It’s interesting to see where Crosses will go from here. They may be burning up in the blog scene and slowly climbing their way to the charts, but is that enough to warrant more music from Crosses in the future? Chino Moreno has made it clear that they’re going with the flow, but they are anxious to see how crowds react to their first experimental brew.
I give “Crosses” three out of five stars.
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