Crosses (usually stylized as †††) is the musical side project of
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...
singer
Chino Moreno
Chino Moreno (born Camillo Wong Moreno, June 20, 1973) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist and contributing guitarist of the metal band Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project groups Team Sl ...
and
Far guitarist
Shaun Lopez
Shaun Lopez is an American music producer, composer, and musician.
Life and career
Shaun is a founding member and guitarist for post-hardcore band Far.
After a number of local releases, including their first demo tape, '' Sweat A River, Live ...
, based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
and formed in 2011.
History
Debut EPs and self-titled release (2011–2014)
Having recorded together previously,
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...
singer
Chino Moreno
Chino Moreno (born Camillo Wong Moreno, June 20, 1973) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist and contributing guitarist of the metal band Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project groups Team Sl ...
began recording with childhood friend and neighbor
Shaun Lopez
Shaun Lopez is an American music producer, composer, and musician.
Life and career
Shaun is a founding member and guitarist for post-hardcore band Far.
After a number of local releases, including their first demo tape, '' Sweat A River, Live ...
, also of the band
Far, as well as Chuck Doom.
[ Moreno described the project as "minimal and soothing and it's sort of like the stuff I like listening to when I'm not screaming my head off."][ With a tentative title of Crosses as the name of the project, they began recording for over four hours a day, completing nearly 16 songs with plans to self-release a series of EPs.][
Recorded at Airport Studios in Los Angeles, California,] their debut EP was released for free on August 2, 2011, with a higher quality version made available for purchase on their website.[ ]Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...
, of Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of punk b ...
and Loaded, contributed additional bass to the song "This Is a Trick" while Chris Robyn of Far performed live drums on the EP. Dino Campanella of the rock band Dredg
Dredg (stylized as dredg) is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Los Gatos, California. The band's lineup consists of vocalist Gavin Hayes, guitarist Mark Engles, bassist Drew Roulette and drummer and pianist Dino Campanella.
Originally sta ...
has also worked as a live drummer for the band.
Crosses contributed a previously unreleased song titled "The Years" to the '' Batman: Arkham City – The Album'', the soundtrack to the game of the same name. It was also featured in the game's Joker trailer.
A second EP from Crosses was released on January 24, 2012.
In 2012, Crosses played the Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
Chile festival as well as the Quilmes Rock
Quilmes Rock is a major Argentine rock festival, held annually from 2002 to 2004, and from 2007 on. It is named after its main sponsor, Cerveza Quilmes brewery. It was held in several venues in Buenos Aires, including the Ferro Stadium and Riv ...
festival.
Crosses released a vinyl single, including the tracks "Option" and "Telepathy" from their first two EPs, for Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
2012. The band also released an official remix of the Rob Zombie
Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...
song, "Dragula
DRAG-U-LA, along with the Munster Koach, was one of two cars on the television show ''The Munsters'' designed by prolific show car designer Tom Daniel while working for George Barris and Barris Kustom Industries.
The car
The fiberglass body ...
", appearing on Zombie's 2012 album ''Mondo Sex Head
''Mondo Sex Head'' is the second remix album
A remix album is an album consisting of remixes or rerecorded versions of an artist's earlier released material. The first act who employed the format was American singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson ( ...
''.
At the end of 2012, "Telepathy" appeared on the soundtrack for video game '' Need for Speed: Most Wanted''.
A postulated third Crosses EP was not released, and Moreno put Crosses temporarily on hold while he concluded work with Deftones (the album '' Koi No Yokan'', issued in November 2012) and another side project, Palms, with ex-members of Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...
(releasing their debut album, '' Palms'', in June 2013).
In September 2013, Crosses signed with Sumerian Records.
In October 2013, Crosses announced that a full-length album was set to be released on November 26, 2013 through Sumerian, and also posted the new track "The Epilogue" online for streaming. The release date for the band's eponymous debut was later pushed back to February 11, 2014, and the new track "Bitches Brew" was posted online for streaming along with the announcement. On November 26, the date Crosses were originally scheduled to release their debut album, the band instead released a music video for "Bitches Brew" directed by Raul Gonzo. The album contains remastered versions of all songs from the previous two EPs as well as five new tracks (essentially, what would have been ''EP 3''). The track order intermingles new tracks and songs from both EPs.
On April 19, 2014, for Record Store Day, Crosses reissued the first two EPS as well as ''EP 3'', all on colored 10-inch vinyl.
In 2014, Crosses appeared as part of the Australian music festival Soundwave, followed by a US spring tour.
New material, ''Permanent Radiant'' (2020–present)
On December 24, 2020, Crosses released a cover of Cause and Effect's "The Beginning of the End", marking the first release from the band since 2014. Exactly one year later on December 24, 2021, Crosses released a cover of Q Lazzarus
Diane Luckey (December 12, 1960 – July 19, 2022), known professionally as Q Lazzarus, was an American singer. She is best known for her 1988 song " Goodbye Horses", which became a cult classic after being prominently featured in a scene from ...
's song "Goodbye Horses
"Goodbye Horses" is a song recorded by American singer Q Lazzarus. It was written by Q Lazzarus's bandmate, William Garvey, and released in 1988, with an extended version being released three years later. It is a synth-pop, dark wave, new wa ...
". With the release of "Goodbye Horses" came the announcement that Crosses had signed a world-wide record deal with Warner Records with new music arriving in early 2022.
On March 18, 2022, Crosses released a double single called " Initiation/Protection", followed in October by "Day One/Vivien". After the launch of the "Vivien" music video, the duo announced the EP '' Permanent Radiant'' that was released on December 9, 2022.
Style
The musical style of Crosses is often referred to as electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
, electronic rock
Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrume ...
, dark wave
Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...
or dark pop, dream pop
Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...
or witch house. However, Carson O'Shoney of ''Consequence of Sound
''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...
'' and Daniel Brockman of ''The Boston Phoenix
''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' a ...
'' note that Crosses only shares a resemblance to witch house in aesthetics and imagery, and not the group's actual music. O'Shoney said that Crosses' witch house influence is "noticeable just by looking at the tracklist—every song has at least one † in it. The name of the band is †††. The name of the EP is †. Everything about the EP points to witch house—until you listen to the actual music." The group's decision to use this imagery stems from Chino Moreno's interest in the art and mystique around religion. Moreno however also said, "I didn't want people to think we are a religious band, a satanic band or that we are a witch-house band. It's difficult using a religious symbol, but at the same time, I think in an artistic way, it can totally go somewhere else and I think we are kind of walking that line."
Discography
Studio albums
Extended plays
Singles
Music videos
Compilation contributions
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosses
Musical groups established in 2011
American electronic rock musical groups
Deftones
Rock music groups from California
Electronic music groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Sumerian Records artists
American musical trios
2011 establishments in California