For our review of † † † (Crosses) full length album click here.
So let me start by saying this… We here at Bearded Gentlemen pretty much regard Chino Moreno of the Deftones (Team Sleep, Palms) as the Messiah. Anyone that knows us is probably aware and has most likely come to accept our giddy fanboy obsession/man-crush on this dude. It’s true, I promise. With that said, we felt it very fitting for our first music review to be Chino related.
For the unfamiliar, ††† (Crosses) is a side project between Chino and Shaun Lopez of the band Far. EP †† being their second self-released effort.
The obvious reality here is that I am predisposed to liking anything that Mr. Moreno is a part of, and that holds true with the latest cut from Crosses. However, I wasn’t exactly sold at first. Upon my first listen through the EP, I actually became a little nervous and hesitant to write a review of it. I just wasn’t really pumped about it. After a few listens and a little bit of thought it definitely started to grow on me. I’ll be honest and say it hasn’t stopped in my playlist and has been making my ear holes happy-happy for the last week.
To me, this record seems a lot less angsty than it predecessor, which is one of the things that I really liked about the first EP. It had that experimental, dirty electronic, shoe-gazer sound that this record maintains, but had also had a little bit of edgyness to it. As far as the music goes, EP †† is definitely a little more on the upbeat and mellow side. Track 3, “†elepa†hy” actually rocks a funk/disco beat that I would go as far to say reminds me of something from Micheal Jackson circa Bad. I swear there is even a signature Micheal “Whoo” at the beginning. The little things like this are what really makes this band stand out to me. The music is carefully crafted and is the perfect foundation for Chino’s serpentine sound. One of my favorite moments on the EP is in track 2, “Prurien†” while Chino is singing mid-verse a “chanting crowd” sample gradually fades in leading to the chorus and really sets the song off. Another is in the final and “outro” track “1987”. The song starts off mellow and soothing and but the song abandon’s traditional song structure and the build-up and crescendo just leads to the swift end of the track. It reminded me a lot of something you might hear in from Nine Inch Nails. (Chino/Trent Reznor super group needs to happen!)
I had recently read that in an interview Chino had said the music they wrote for this project is a lot like the stuff he listens to. I happen to think that is pretty rad. The band had initially recorded 16 tracks and planned on releasing them in a series of EP’s. I kinda looked at both EP’s as the pieces of a collective album. EP † being the one containing the major “singles” and EP †† filling out the rest of it. Both are great and each is different from the other. A wise man once said that Crosses made him want to stick eucalyptus leaves down his pants cause they were so awesome. So if you aren’t listening to these guys you should probably check them out.
– Isaac
Check out a review (by Jon) of †††’s first EP here.