Music Review: The Cruxshadows - The Mystery of the Whisper

It's been a while since I last mused over an album. I finally got around to buying one of my favorite Curxshadows albums, The Mystery of the Whisper.

The cover to the 2CD re-issue with their breakthrough album, The Mystery of the Whisper, and a rare EP, Until the Voices Fade...

Depending who you talk to, The Cruxshadows are considered Dark Electro, Goth Rock, Dark Wave, etc. Basically, we'll go with some form of modernized creepy pasta and call it a day (I'm not much into debating what genre something is and isn't. They aren't country and that's good enough for me).

Cruxshadows formed in 1992 with Rogue, Sean Flanagan, and Tim Curry (no, not THE Time Curry of Rocky Horror fame. I know, I was also slightly disappointed) in Florida. 1996 saw the release of Telemetry of a Fallen Angel which produced their first single, Marilyn, My Bitterness, and brought some modest attention to the group. The Mystery of the Sound came out in 1999. Over time, several changes have occurred in the line up with Rogue remaining as the only original member. They have, until recent times, been a band that has spent more time touring each year than actually sitting at home doing more domestic sorts of things. Based on the Twitter account for the band run by Rogue, it seems a new album is in the mix.

The current line-up for The Cruxshadows. I don't know them well enough to say who is who, but Rogue is the third from the left and his wife is one of the women. I know, so helpful.

Now, I do want to mention some things I find really cool about Rogue. First, he is the heir to the Du Pont legacy. You know, Du Pont. Those guys that seem to make everything chemical related. Yeah, he's part of that. Instead of taking a back seat to life and living the rich life, Rogue actually worked hard in school being one of those smart kids, founded a poetry club, lettered in something, competed nationally in speech and debate tournaments, and was an officer in the JROTC, among other things. He then went on to study art and music at FSU, graduating magna cum laude. Regardless of whether you like him and his band or not, you must admit he kind of defines the whole "overachiever" thing.

Rogue. He actually isn't as angry as he looks in this photo.

So, all that said, let's get to the album. This is an album with some references to Egyptian lore (but only a few). The album starts with the mostly instrumental Isis & Osiris (Life/Death). It has a nice vibe, good instrumentation, and sets the tone for the album. Being an instrumental track with some kind of singing in the background (not sure if it's supposed to be based on the language of the ancient Egyptians or what), there isn't much to say.

The next track, Cruelty, is perhaps one of my favorites from the band. The intro is a bit electronic meets organ. Great way to start the song as it's very mysterious. I don't like to delve much into song meanings as I still contend songs mean different things for different people. It is possible this is one of the angst-y sorts of songs as the chorus goes, in part: "Cruelty and consequence cannot eliminate this relevance, your selfishness, your hatefulness cannot take away my innocence from me." Regardless of the meaning, it's a song with a good beat and music, if nothing else. Check it out for yourself. And no, I have no idea what's going on in the video. And yes, Rogue's hair is kind of distracting:

Next is Leave Me Alone. Yes, perhaps another angst-y song, at best. But it seems to speak to a dilemma the Goth crowd often faces. Gallivant in public wearing all black and people stare at you and glare at your back. The character in this song seems to be speaking to someone else, possibly a love interest or just a friend. They're trying to get this second person to leave them alone because they are "a freak" and so forth. It isn't necessarily that the main character really wants this person to leave them alone so much as it may be "Hey, understand, the world thinks I'm a freak and they all stare at me wherever I go." Good song to listen to, though I don't necessarily agree with the slant. We all get weird looks from people, so why encourage a possible friend/romance away because you, like everyone else, get odd looks from people?

Most of the remaining songs sound similar enough (except Sympathy (For Tomorrow) which is focused more on piano and violin with cleaner vocals). I can understand why The Cruxshadows may not be in the libraries of every person with a taste for creepy pasta. The lyrics tend to be very simplistic (at least on this early album) and don't do much for fending off certain Goth stereotypes. I listen to this album more for the music than the words.



Rating: 4 out of 5 (like I said, good music, but the lyrics leave more to be desired)
More information: Official Cruxshadows Website

Concert Review: David J 6/1/12

Last night (and early evening), I saw one fourth of Bauhaus - Mr. David J! He was in town (randomly, apparently) and decided to promote his new album, "Not Long For This World." I saw him first around 7pm at Cheapo Records where he did an in-store performance (to like ten people) and then stayed after for autographs and pictures. Later that night, he was at Elysium playing a slightly longer set and breaking out some classic favorites.

David J playing bass for Bauhaus during the band's last round of reunion

David J was one of the founding members of post-punk band Bauhaus in 1978. The band went on to release several albums and singles and garner a deep, albeit underground, following. The band originally disbanded in 1983, presumably over tensions of David J, Daniel Ash, and Kevin Haskins recording most of "Burning From the Inside" without singer Peter Murphy (he had pneumonia at the time). Bauhaus would later return in 1998 for the Resurrection reunion tour, only to disband again. Finally, Bauhaus returned with 2006's "Go Away White" and some marginal touring with Nine Inch Nails over the next couple of years before disbanding for seems like the final time.

In the interim periods of Bauhaus's rises and falls, David J went on to form bands such as the highly experimental Tones on Tail with Bauhaus guitarist Daniel Ash and roadie Bauhaus roadie Glenn Camping. Once that fell through, J and Ash rejoined with Bauhaus drummer (and David's younger brother), Kevin Haskins to form the fairly popular Love and Rockets. Both David J and Daniel Ash released solo material over time as well.

Love and Rockets (left to right: Kevin Haskins, David J, Daniel Ash)

At Cheapo Records, David J only played a handful of songs, most from his solo work. He did play "Sweet FA" and "No New Tale to Tell" from Love and Rockets. It was very clear that all of us watching him were there because he was David J of Bauhaus. None of us knew the lyrics to his solo material. Heck, most of us didn't know the words to his Love and Rocket's material either! (I know the lyrics to "No New Tale to Tell," but not "Sweet FA" as I don't listen to Love and Rockets often). However, he was in good spirits and having fun with things. Because David J doesn't perform often, he himself doesn't have all the lyrics memorized well (even those of his own songs) and needs a lyric book (which he forgot over at Elysium). This prompted lots of joking about his age and his admitting to have skipped different lines and added in others (not like any of us would have known otherwise, haha!). Afterwards, David J talked with us, signed autographs, and took pictures. I got my "On Glass" 12" signed and a couple of his solo albums on CD (they're hard to find, which doesn't help matters any with trying to follow his solo work).

At Elysium, the story continued. He had his song book this time with the lyrics (only removing it to play "No New Tale to Tell" again and both Bauhaus songs). He was much quieter this time, not talking to the audience as much (then again, many people were being very rude and talking loudly as he performed). Overall, the performance was great. He did a new version of "No New Tale to Tell" with Adrian H and the Wounds that I wasn't terribly crazy about and the version of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" that he ended the night with was odd. He had great atmosphere for that one (took the lamp from his lyric book stand and put it under his face to imitate Peter Murphy's putting his face in a white light and also draped his jacket like a cloak). However, David J commonly likes to add random lyrics at the end of the song which don't necessarily go with it. Additionally, the drawn out "Ooooooohhhhhhh Bellllllllllaaaaaaaaa" parts were completely removed, which are my favorite parts of the song. Good effort, but I'd much rather listen to Peter Murphy's mash-up of "A Strange Kind of Love" and "Bela Lugosi's Dead" that he commonly does at shows.

On the whole, David J is a very humble, funny, delightful man. This set of performances has actually perked my interest in his solo work (I tend to not listen to it as the little things I had heard I didn't much care for). I now believe a second listen is in order. This also puts me at seeing one half of Bauhaus in some form or another. I wish I could have seen them during the last reunion. May not have been anything like they were back in their heyday, but I'm sure it was great.


Setlist from Elysium:

Dagger in the Well
Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh
Shelf Life
Rain Bird
If You Could Read My Mine
Spalding Gray
Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?
Silver for Gold
Not Long For This World
Dog-End of a Day Gone By

ENCORE

No New Tale to Tell
Alabama Song
Bela Lugosi's Dead